It took me a really long time to get through this book. Like, 4 months. But I think this was more due to life and my own struggle to resist doomscrolling rather than a reflection of the book—I really liked the book.
The book makes clear that Apple has relied heavily on Chinese manufacturing to build its electronics. But I was surprised to read the extent to which this did not come free—Apple in China argues that without Apple, China may not be the electronics manufacturing powerhouse that it is today. Apple’s approach to manufacturing was fundamentally different than every other company’s, McGee says—while other companies took what they could get from the factories, Apple knew what they wanted and showed the factories that it was possible to achieve it. In doing so, though, they showed other companies—particularly Chinese ones—what was possible and created competition for themselves. And before long, they found themselves having to face questions from both the Chinese and the American governments: what was an American company doing spending so much time in China?
I’ve been really impressed with Apple recently. They are literally the only company on earth that can produce decent laptops these days, and they manage to do so at great prices. This book gave me an appreciation for the decades of work and supply chain management that went in to making that possible. It also gave me an understanding of the costs Apple—and the US—incurred to achieve it.
I thought it was a great read, and I’ve added Chip War to the top of my reading list. Manufacturing is, as I’ve been learning from Smarter Every Day videos recently as well, fascinating, extremely impressive, and, as this book shows, inherently political.