Apple spent $60 billion with 9,000 American manufacturers in 2018 alone

Apple is heralding its commitment to American companies, and has detailed its involvement with manufacturers, plus its role in expanding businesses that supply components for the iPhone and Mac.

Apple noted on Monday that its $390 million investment from Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund allowed component manufacturer Finisar to turn an unoccupied building in Sherman, Texas into "a bustling operation full of people who will supply that future business." Finisar makes the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser, or VCSEL, part of the TrueDepth camera system, crucial for Face ID in the iPhone X and later.

"VCSEL wafers are nearly as thin as a human hair and contain hundreds of layers measuring only a few atoms in thickness," said Apple. "They require a highly advanced and precise manufacturing operation, as well as skilled technicians with specialized training."

Since 2011, the total number of jobs created and supported by Apple in the United States has more than tripled — from almost 600,000 to 2 million across all 50 states. Beyond Apple's noting the $60 billion spent in the year from the Advanced Manufacturing Fund, Apple's 2018 expansion supports more than 450,000 jobs on its own.

Apple notes that the touch sensitive glass for iPhone and iPad is made by Corning at a 65-year-old facility in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Cincinnati Test Systems in Ohio designed a first-of-its-kind equipment to ensure iPhone is water resistant.

Other electronics manufacturers cited by Apple include Broadcom in Fort Collins, Colorado, Qorvo in Hillsboro, Oregon and Skyworks in Woburn, Massachusetts. All three make wireless networking and communications components for Apple.

The Advanced Manufacturing Fund is geared toward supporting U.S. manufacturing. Apple's first investment took place in May 2017, when it spent $200 million on Corning — the company that makes the Gorilla Glass used in many Apple devices.

"We're really proud to do it," Apple CEO Tim Cook said when the fund was announced. "By doing that we can be the ripple in the pond, because if we can create many manufacturing jobs, those manufacturing jobs create more jobs around them."

The Advanced Manufacturing Fund goes beyond Apple's $1 billion investment in SoftBank's Vision Fund, a $100 billion resource created to accelerate the development of technology around the world. Some $50 billion of the Vision Fund will be directed toward U.S. endeavors.

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19 Comments

anantksundaram 20390 comments · 18 Years

About 5 years ago

I am sorry, but I am not seeing the "$60 billion" number quoted anywhere in the text of the article? Who said it, where, when? Cite?

Also, while I am not belittling the massive addition of jobs in the US, it is important to note that most of Apple's job creation here is in retail, which are low-skill, low-paying jobs.

carnegie 1082 comments · 10 Years

anantksundaram said:

I am sorry, but I am not seeing the "$60 billion" number quoted anywhere in the text of the article? Who said it, where, when? Cite?

Also, while I am not belittling the massive addition of jobs in the US, it is important to note that most of Apple's job creation here is in retail, which are low-skill, low-paying jobs.

It's from Apple's press release issued today.

I'd also note that, even with many of its 132,000 employees (as of the end of its FY2018) being retail employees, Apple's median employee total compensation was over $55,000 in FY2018. That's median, not mean, so the number isn't inflated by very-highly compensated employees at the top.

Latko 398 comments · 7 Years

anantksundaram said:

I am sorry, but I am not seeing the "$60 billion" number quoted anywhere in the text of the article? Who said it, where, when? Cite?

Also, while I am not belittling the massive addition of jobs in the US, it is important to note that most of Apple's job creation here is in retail, which are low-skill, low-paying jobs.

I do neither (but what difference does it make ?) The point here is that Apple PR wants to impress the public with numbers, big numbers, like all multi-billion moloch multi-nationals do. And that only works for a certain amount of time. At some point, people will say “Duh. What’s in it for me ?” And after that moment, it will only contribute to the “too big, slow, incumbent, too expensive for what it brings” etc. etc. image. How people identify Apple, is determined by people. Not by Tim’s norms an priorities. Because, sadly, he’s not Steve. And his decisions are always overrated by himelf. Spending billions on Corning, on Samsung OLED, on Sapphire initiatives - it all leads to the notion that they lack screen making capabilities and therefore have to do over-expensive purchasing at the competition that they declared thermonuclear war on. The public aren’t fools.

Mike Wuerthele 6901 comments · 8 Years

anantksundaram said:

I am sorry, but I am not seeing the "$60 billion" number quoted anywhere in the text of the article? Who said it, where, when? Cite?

Also, while I am not belittling the massive addition of jobs in the US, it is important to note that most of Apple's job creation here is in retail, which are low-skill, low-paying jobs.

Third paragraph below the image. Been there since the first draft.

tbornot 116 comments · 9 Years

Note that in China, Apple is not dinged for paying their workers below minimum wage, they are dinged for SLAVERY. I know the difference might appear subtle, but it’s tremendous in its evilness.