Gambled with outsourcing: how Apple became dependent on China (too)

The structure of the supply chain in China and other Asian countries is the life’s work of today’s Apple boss Tim Cook. Born in Texan, he was recruited in 1998 by company co-founder Steve Jobs by the PC manufacturer Compaq. There he was responsible for the procurement and management of the product inventory. At that time, Cook was commissioned to put the production of Apple products on new feet and to save the company from financial ruin.

At the time, Apple was notorious to completely misjudge the demand for its products. Sometimes stacks piled up to the ceiling in the camps. And in the rare cases in which a product produced great demand, Apple could not deliver because there were bottlenecks in production.

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