Google and Other Tech Giants Bringing Manufacturing Back to U.S.
After many years of moving technical manufacturing and other jobs overseas, where labor is cheaper, tech giants such as Apple and Google are finally reversing the trend and opening their newest manufacturing facilities here in the United States. Silicon Valley might once again be the thriving electronics metropolis it once was.
The trend began with the announcement by Apple Computers in December, when chief executive Tim Cook pledged to invest $100 million in manufacturing in the U.S. Taiwanese company Hon Hai Precision, a contractor best known under its trading name Foxconn. It has also indicated its commitment to expanding its manufacturing operations in the U.S. Both Apple and Google are working with Foxconn on some of their latest revolutionary electronics ventures.
The latest announcement comes from Google, which just announced its plans to manufacture its newest development, digital glasses, in Santa Clara, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. The digital glasses are dubbed “Project Glass” and are high-tech computerized eyewear. The report of Google’s announcement was introduced in a report by Financial Times.
As Google, Apple, and other electronics and tech companies move their production facilities back to the U.S., smaller companies who manufacture parts and mechanisms for the devices are able to crank up their productions, lowering prices. This, in turn, allows smaller tech companies to afford their services and bring even more technologies to the marketplace via U.S. labor.
Though the completed products are to be assembled and completed at the U.S. manufacturing facilities, parts suppliers from outside the U.S. will still be contributing labor and parts. Google said having the final product assembled in the U.S. will allow its engineers to be more closely involved in the fine tuning of the finished eyewear. This allows Google engineers to make last-minute changes and further customize the completed electronic eyeglasses.
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