Apple signs meaningless deal to make some less-important parts in America
Maybe that's why Tim didn't get an invitation to the President's tech bro club?
Apple's American Manufacturing Program (AMP) is expanding, with new suppliers signed on to produce iPhone components - though those parts will still be shipped overseas for final assembly. Tim Apple may continue avoiding tariffs but he probably won't win a lot of brownie points with President Trump.
The iBiz confirmed on Thursday that Bosch, fabless chip firm Cirrus Logic, TDK, and component maker Qnity Electronics have all committed to make parts for Apple devices in US facilities. Apple intends to pay the new AMP members out of a $400 million pot through 2030.
The AMP program is part of a broader pledge to spend $600 billion on US manufacturing by the end of the decade, in a bid to appease the Trump administration and avoid tariffs on iPhones and other devices manufactured overseas. Apple has so far announced plans to produce servers, chips, and Mac Minis in the US.
iPhones, which Trump signaled he wants made in the US, remain conspicuously absent from today's announcement, as was the case in prior US manufacturing plans published in recent months. Apple has long maintained that it is unlikely to manufacture iPhones on US soil as it is impractical due to costs, supply chain complexity, and workforce requirements training.
The new AMP members will make iPhone parts that are then shipped to factories in India and China for final assembly.
Specifically, TDK will soon begin making sensors in the US for iPhone cameras "shipped all over the world," said Apple. TSMC will begin manufacturing integrated circuits used in Apple sensors for things like crash detection, activity tracking, and elevation at its Washington state facility on behalf of Bosch. And Cirrus Logic will work with initial AMP member GlobalFoundries to establish new semiconductor process tech for use in manufacturing integrated circuits for Face ID hardware.
Qnity Electronics, for its part, will supply "materials and technologies essential for semiconductor manufacturing and advanced electronics," Apple said.
Apple claimed its initial AMP partners, including Broadcom, Corning, Samsung, and others, have already made progress expanding their US manufacturing base for Apple products, though it didn't detail how.
None of this amounts to a US-made iPhone, which might explain why Apple boss Tim Cook, criticized of late for his attempt to cultivate a relationship with the White House, was absent from the list of Silicon Valley leaders picked for the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Apple didn't respond to a request for comment. ®