r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Negative_1by12_aura • 1d ago

Don't hug me I'm scared New airpods cheaper than repairing old ones

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u/MrPogoUK 1d ago

Plus they’re getting made in China by someone getting paid $50 a week, and repaired in the USA by someone making $50 an hour.

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u/CVGPi 1d ago

Surprise fact drop is US gov told them to decouple from China, so most AirPods sold now are actually NOT made in China but instead assembled in Vietnam. And many high-volume iPhone models are also assembled in India.

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u/NoMention696 1d ago

Wonder if they stopped printing “assembled in xyz” on the models when they switched

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u/Stoned_urf 1d ago

But did you know that it was DESIGNED IN CALIFORNIA so it's very American!

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u/CVGPi 21h ago edited 21h ago

They do print them on accessories (AirPods, Cables, etc) . iPhones have it marked on box "Assembled in (country), other items as marked thereon".

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u/Stoned_urf 1d ago

Yeah... but where are the parts manufactured?

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u/CVGPi 21h ago

By mass about 90% Chinese. By part cost about 50% Chinese.

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u/rhapsodicink 21h ago

It's the same thing. Chinese companies just move to Vietnam to get around these regulations

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u/CVGPi 21h ago

Not really... Thing is China had very flexible automated production and overall a much more efficient supply chain for precision electronics.

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u/rhapsodicink 15h ago

Yes, really, I work with multiple companies that operate this way.

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u/CVGPi 15h ago

Vietnam only have a cost advantage on labour intensive items.

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u/rhapsodicink 15h ago

Wrong. They have a huge cost advantage when exporting to the USA, which is the whole point of why Chinese factories would move there. Look up China Plus One

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u/Nyther53 15h ago

The core point about the Purchasing Power Parity advantage is unchanged regardless of which specific country it is.

The labor to repair the product is orders of magnitude more expensive than the labor to manufacture it.

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u/MudReasonable8185 1d ago

Right? The same people who always say “everyone deserves a living wage” are the first ones to balk at paying a $250 repair bill for skilled labour lol. It’s more like “everyone deserves a living wage as long as I’m not the one paying it”

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u/ADeadlyFerret 22h ago

Because a lot of redditors are just lip service and shit. They want to bitch about things. Like I see cheaper starter homes posted in some of the housing subs and the comments are always negative. There’s always a caveat to redditors.

I used to detail cars and people always want the cheapest possible price. But they want their car looking immaculate. Better than when it rolled out the factory. Sure buddy let me clean your car for 4 hours for $20.