A study carried out for CRESC Center for Research on Socio-Cultural Change has revealed Apple’s reasoning for making its devices abroad.

As Apple have become more and more successful, more people have challenged Apple over the fact that they are an American company producing goods overseas. It doesn’t take a financial expert to realise that if Apple employed everyone it needed to manufacture its various devices in America, the boost to the economy would be sensational.

The research shows that Apple’s current deal with Foxconn sets the average production of the iPhone and iPad at $178.45. The devices sell on average for $630. Apple’s current gross profit then is 71.7%. The labor costs Apple pay on each device is a laughable $7.

$7 an iPhone? If only the knew…

Now, if Apple manufactured these devices in the US, they would have to comply with complicated labor legislation set by the government. And they would also have to… you know… pay their workers. This would set the production cost at $337.

Sadly, we live in a world where the greater good takes second place to cost benefit analysis, the choice is, from a business perspective, a no-brainer. But is that right? Do Apple have a right to keep costs down? After all, the ultimate goal of a business is to make money. Or should Apple take the hit, if it means a better outlook for the rest of us?

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