Tesla co-founder JB Straubel has said that Apple could “absolutely” make iPhones in the US.
In an interview on the This Week in Startups podcast, JB Straubel discussed a range of topics including e-waste, the early days of Tesla, and of course, a couple of questions on Apple.
When asked whether the Cupertino company could make iPhones in the United States, JB said: “Could iPhones be made here? Like, just straight up, like you guys built cars here, people were like ‘that’s impossible,’ you did it. Like could iPhones and just like let’s say smartphones be manufactured here and what would they cost an extra hundred bucks or something?”
He added that Apple could “absolutely build complicated things’ in the United States, but added that the strategic failures of the US in recent years have meant that China has overtaken the country in terms of manufacturing. He says that this is because the United States “didn’t try”.
“We can absolutely build complicated things in the United States,” he said in the podcast.
“I think part of it is we didn’t try. And we made some strategic decisions that it wasn’t a heads-up competition in some cases.
“There’s talent here, there are smart people, I’d say really a lot of innovation and creativity especially around automation and factory software and the way to improve this, you know in quick cycles.
“I’m not saying this is an easy competition. China is incredibly entrepreneurial and they are working really really hard. I think people can’t take that for granted and you can’t understand maybe without really being there and going there, how intense and how much work they put into this, in succeeding.
“But we can compete, we absolutely can. I’m not willing to throw my hands up and give up and say well we’re too successful or lazy or something. I’d move to a different country if that were the case.”
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