How to Build an iPhone: Apple's Tangled Manufacturing Web

Sept. 26, 2014
On its way to the store shelves, Apple's iPhone 6 endured a journey through 785 suppliers, 31 countries and a million hands. This slideshow documents that journey and highlights the impact it has on US manufacturing and the global economy.

Just a week after its partial release, the iPhone 6 is already breaking records around the world.

Opening weekend, crowds gathered at Apple stores from New York to Tokyo to bring home an unprecedented 10 million devices in just two days.

That is great news for tech enthusiasts and gadget geeks, but to the manufacturing crowd, it raises some very big questions. Namely, how on Earth did the company manage to manufacture so many of these things so quickly at such an obscenely low price point?

The logistics around the effort are mind-boggling. It required the cooperation of hundreds of suppliers and thousands of workers to pull off. Even more, it was conducted right under our noses in almost total secrecy.

The team over at CompareCamp.com, however, have broken through that wall of silence.

In their latest infographic, presented here in gallery form, they reveal the thick manufacturing web Apple developed for this release. It exposes the journey through 785 suppliers, 31 countries and million hands (both human and robotic) that the iPhone 6 takes on its way to market.

It also answers some of those big questions:

  • Which companies are profiting from the phone's latest features?
  • What impact does Apple and the iPhone have on job creation around the world?
  • Why can't the iPhone be made in the USA?

Check out the full infographic at CompareCamp.com.

About the Author

Travis M. Hessman | Editor-in-Chief

Travis Hessman is the editor-in-chief and senior content director for IndustryWeek and New Equipment Digest. He began his career as an intern at IndustryWeek in 2001 and later served as IW's technology and innovation editor. Today, he combines his experience as an educator, a writer, and a journalist to help address some of the most significant challenges in the manufacturing industry, with a particular focus on leadership, training, and the technologies of smart manufacturing.

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