How could iPhone 15 made in India be cheaper and as good as those made in China?

 How could iPhone 15 made in India be cheaper than those made in China, when most of the components have to be sent over from China and subject to high tariffs? That is why China is not too worried about Apple moving part of its production to India. What China cannot benefit from making more iPhones in China, China can make even more just exporting those components to India. Does the trade war with the USA provide any clues?

India does not have the supply chains needed to give Apple an independent existence in India without depending on China. With the kind of investment environment existing, which Chinese supply chain would want to set up base in India and risk getting taken over when successful? They might as well remain in China, do their business in safety and just export what they produce to India. India cannot ban import of those components as that will kill the Apple manufacturing business in India. India can keep increasing tariffs, but that will be paid by Indian customers, like the USA trade war tariffs on Chinese imports.

It has been reported that 50% of iPhones made or assembled in India were found to be faulty in some way or another, and complaints have been made by the EU against iPhones made in India, so much so that Tim Cook had been reported to have said that iPhones made in India will only be sold in India. There were however loose talk of Apple intending to unload those 'below standard' made in India iPhones onto the Chinese market, which the Chinese are not going to take lying down. Chinese customers are asking where those iPhones come from first before buying them.

Perhaps Apple is trying to pull a fast one on customers by making those iPhones in India, sent them to China with some hanky panky done to them, and claimed they were made in China. If that can be done with Russian oil, why not with others. Question is how to price those expensive India iPhones cheap enough to compete with Chinese made iPhones? Even if they sell at a loss, which is not possible, knowing that Apple makes so much on each iPhone in China, doing this is going to spoil the reputation of Chinese iPhone makers. China has to be extremely wary of this.

Right now, Apple is facing lots of problems with its iPhone 15, said to be tinkering over overheating complaints. Added to that, Apple is also having problems with the high electromagnetic radiation with its iPhone 12 which are above safety levels under EU regulations. Fancy bring this up after so many years of usage! But rest assured Governments will play it down when the Emperor's Edit is read to them. Nothing to worry about and it is very safe.

Now, there is further competition in the Chinese market, with Huawei rising from the ashes, plus the clampdown over iPhone usage among Chinese Government circles, coupled with the problems in the Apple production facilities in India. All these will affect the bottom line of Apple going forward.

Anonymous

G20 - Out going Prime Minister....

 

30 sec from the land of our foreign talent s during the G20 Meeting in India. No one can spot their mistakes unless you know your stuff. Or else they will convince you that black is white, if you are unthinking. Now you know why so many are employed by daft Singaporeans. Because Singaporeans are dafter than the daft.

Any daft or ignorant watching this clip will believe Hsien Loong was the outgoing PM and Tharman was the incoming PM. They are always very convincing to the daft.

White Australians voting to protect rights of Aborigines? What a farce!

 A depiction of the Australian Aboriginal Flag is seen on a window sill at the home of indigenous Muruwari elder Rita Wright, a member of the "Stolen Generations", in Sydney, Australia, Jan 19, 2021. (File photo: Reuters/Loren Elliott)

 

SYDNEY: Support for a proposal to amend Australia's constitution to enshrine recognition of Indigenous people has edged higher, according to a poll published on Tuesday (Oct 3), although most voters intend to reject the change in a referendum now underway.

Early voting on whether to recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution and create a "Voice to Parliament" to give them an avenue to advise the government on matters affecting First Nations Australians began on Monday. 

The latest Guardian Essential poll showed support for the "yes" vote had risen two points to 43 per cent over the past two weeks, while backing for a "no" vote slipped two points to 49 per cent. The shifts are within the poll's three-point margin of error.

A "hard no" group in the survey of 1,125 voters outnumbered "hard yes" respondents by 42 per cent to 30 per cent.

Voting in Australia's first referendum since a 1999 rejection of a proposal to become a republic closes on Oct 14....

CNA

The kind and caring foxes are having a referendum in the hen house to decide whether to protect the rights of the hens from the foxes. Can you believe that? The white men came to Australia, massacred the natives, treated them as sub humans, stole the land from them and called it theirs, gave it a name, Australia. No one cares about the rights of the natives, what human rights, and now they are calling a referendum to decide the fate of the native people, the original people of the land, the real owners of the land.  Oops, according the the Christian Doctrine of Discovery, subhumans liked the native people, have no rights to land ownership. Such rights are only for the white men, the real human beans.

Now with the white men in majority, they are going to vote for or against the rights of the native people, now a small minority, unable to vote against the tyranny of the majority in what they called Democracy.

What a crazy doctrine to lie to the victims of their colonisation. Can anyone really believe the foxes would care for the hens, would be kind to the hens, and would vote to protect the hens? Is this fair, is this justice?

Yes, this is white men's justice. This is white men's democracy and how white men protect the human rights of their victims.  What a farce!

What do you think?

Strong US dollar hurting emerging economies

 “The markets have consistently tried to price in rosy scenarios which were associated with a weaker dollar and they continue to be surprised that the reality isn’t quite as rosy,” said Maurice Obstfeld, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.

The strong dollar “is going to be negative for emerging markets. It’s going to be negative for global trade,” he said.

So far at least, the damage has been less widespread than last year, when the dollar surge led to a historic selloff in emerging-market assets and helped tip countries like Sri Lanka and Ghana into full-blown economic crises.

In recent months, currencies in Latin America and Eastern Europe have been hit hard. Central banks in Brazil, Poland and Hungary have started cutting policy rates after winning praise for their quick action to tighten monetary policy in 2021, well ahead of the Fed and other developed-market central banks. They are now under pressure to pause or slow rate-cutting plans to prevent further pressure on their currencies.

A stronger dollar is felt broadly in emerging markets. A paper co-written by Obstfeld last year showed how the shock of a sharp rise in the dollar leads to yearslong economic underperformance in less developed economies. Consumption, output, investment and government spending all come under pressure alongside the local currency.

“It’s a double whammy,” he said. “You’re being driven away from your growth target and you’re being driven away from your inflation target at the same time.”

Some global central banks are tapping into stockpiles of foreign currency to help shore up their currencies. Others are publicly threatening to do so, a tactic known as jawboning.

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki on Friday pledged to take action against sharp falls in the yen, which is close to 150 a dollar. That is around the level that last year spurred the

“We will take appropriate action against excessive moves without ruling out any options,” Suzuki said. “We have a strong sense of urgency.”

Both Switzerland and South Korea have sold foreign-currency reserves to bolster their currencies, the franc and the won. Analysts believe China is helping prop up the yuan, which fell to a 16-year low in onshore trading in September, by having state banks sell dollars.

Investors had largely expected the greenback to weaken this year as the Fed wound down its most aggressive campaign of interest-rate increases since the 1980s. Indeed, in the first half of the year, beaten-down currencies like the British pound and euro rebounded from 2022’s brutal declines.

But those rallies have petered out. The euro, which topped $1.10 over the summer, has fallen back toward $1.05 as the eurozone economy stagnates and worries over debt sustainability in fragile southern economies like Italy re-emerge.

Many investors still hope the dollar’s decadelong winning streak, which has left it at least 10% overvalued by many estimates, is coming to an end.

One factor could be fading American growth. U.S. consumers have been running down their $2 trillion-plus in pandemic-era savings and the resumption of student-loan payments is expected to further dent consumption. The unemployment rate, while still near historic lows, has been edging up.

U.S. growth is likely to fall in line with the rest of the world in 2024, said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management. The dollar’s recent rally is “the last hurrah before a significant decline next year,” he said.

Anonymous

Due to tariffs on Chinese components, iPhone 15 cost Indians way more than it would have in US, despite ‘made in India’

Apple fans in India are having to shell out a lot more than their counterparts in the US to get their hands on the latest iPhone 15 models, which were launched last month.

In India, the iPhone 15 - which costs $799 in the US - is selling for Rs 79,900 (around $965), while the $999 iPhone 15 Pro is selling at Rs 1,34,900 ($1,628) and the $1,199 iPhone 15 Pro Max costs Rs 1,59,900 ($1,930) — which shows that the price difference in some models is more than 50 percent.

In the latest line-up, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models are being locally assembled. But even if smartphones are assembled in India, many components are imported, especially from China. These components also attract duties, which impact the phone’s price.

While iPhones are ‘made’ in India, it is important to note that their components are subject to import duties. Similarly, the iPhone 15 Pro models (which are imported) face even steeper tariffs, with a 20 percent customs duty and an additional 2 percent cess.

A 2022 comparative study of India’s import tariffs in the electronics sector, by the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), released in July this year, noted that India’s electronics manufacturing industry, which included mobile phones, was marred by high input tariffs, resulting in increased cost of production, reduced scale of operations, and lower ability to compete in both the global and the domestic markets.

Anonymous