Apple might be manufacturing all of its products outside the United States but it’s highlighting the contributions that it makes to the country’s economy by spending billions of dollars with local suppliers. That’s $60 billion to be precise just last year. Apple says that it spent this much with 9,000 American suppliers in 2018, up ten percent compared to 2017.
The company notes in its press release that its business with local suppliers supports more than 450,000 jobs in the country. Apple further notes that since 2011, the total number of jobs created and supported by the company in the United States has tripled from almost 600,000 to 2 million across all 50 states. It gave component manufacturer Finisar’s example.
The company was awarded $390 million from Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund to expand production of a part critical to Apple’s TrueDepth camera system. Finisar used the funds to transform an unoccupied building in Sherman, Texas “into a bustling operation full of people who will supply that future business.”
Some of its other local suppliers include Corning which provides the touch sensitive glass for iPhones and iPads, Cincinnati Test Systems which designed equipment to ensure water resistance for the iPhone, and wireless communication hardware provider Broadcom. This figure may continue to go up in the years to come. Apple also detailed plans last year to repatriate $350 billion of its cash parked overseas to the United States.
Filed in .. Source: apple