Quote:
Originally Posted by crashed
The argument that most companies are making in stating that "well we outsource everything in order to make things cheaper for you to buy", is generally a bogus one. Most companies that can afford to outsource and to take all the risks that are involved in outsourcing - generally can easily afford to set their retail prices to anything they want really.
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Uh. No.
A lot of companies exist solely to market outsourced products; they provide the specifications, the brand, distribution and marketing, and their ODM *partners* supply the products.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origina...n_manufacturer
No outsourcing, no company.
And if they can't sell the product at the outsourced price they can't exist either.
Vizio is the current poster child for a successful business built on this model.
So is Westinghouse Digital (no, they are in no way related to the Westinghouse that build nuclear reactors--that one is owned by Toshiba).
Note they have been making decent profits in a business where Sony is losing their shirt on (TVs) and even Samsung is struggling to make a profit.
This is not a black and white issue.
Modern manufacturing is a web of relationships, contracts, labor division, and wide-ranging supply chains. And every company's case is unique unto itself.
That is one reason why Apple found itself on the hot seat and felt compelled (and is able) to act; their relationship with Foxconn is decidely different than those of other Foxconn partners.
Pondering and debating is good but let's be careful not to over-generalize.