Instead of reshoring factories, the move may reshape household budgets.Apple’s iPhone isn’t made in one country. It’s a jigsaw puzzle of parts sourced worldwide—assembled with precision in China, where decades of expertise and scale keep costs low.Take the iPhone 16 Pro. Wayne Lam, a research analyst at TechInsights told the Wall Street Journal, estimates the hardware cost Apple about $550. But new tariffs change the equation.With a 54% tariff slapped on Chinese-made goods, that $580 cost balloons to around $850. “It’s not clear you can make a competitively priced smartphone here,” Crockett said.Lam estimates that labour costs per iPhone in China are about $30.

Source: The Times April 06, 2025 14:29 UTC