It's a cold, cold morning at "Riverbend", and I stayed in bed longer than usual, and I'm glad I did because I caught ABC Radio National's program "Saturday Extra" which introduced me to Patrick McGee and his book "APPLE in China". What a story!
For readers of Walter Isaacson’s "Steve Jobs" and Chris Miller’s "Chip War", this riveting look at how Apple helped build China's dominance in electronics assembly and manufacturing only to find itself trapped in a relationship with an authoritarian state making ever-increasing demands.
After struggling to build its products on three continents, Apple was lured by China’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap labour. Soon it was sending thousands of engineers across the Pacific, training millions of workers, and spending hundreds of billions of dollars to create the world's most sophisticated supply chain. These capabilities enabled Apple to build the 21st century's most iconic products — in staggering volume and for enormous profit. Without explicitly intending to, Apple built an advanced electronics industry within China, only to discover that its massive investments in technology upgrades had inadvertently given Beijing a power that could be weaponised.
"Apple in China" is the sometimes disturbing and always revelatory story of how an outspoken, proud company that once praised "rebels" and "troublemakers" — the company that encouraged us all to "Think Different" — devolved into passively cooperating with a belligerent regime that increasingly controls its fate. And it's the story of why China now rules the world, and why the USA doesn't.
Whet your appetite with this segment from the audiobook - click here.
