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Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company
Selected by The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) as its “Business Reporting” Winner for 2025
“Phenomenal…a jaw-dropping book.” —Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
Named by both The New York Times and T he Economist as one of the best books of the year so far, this “scrupulously reported” (The New Yorker) and “astonishing” (The Daily Telegraph , London) book rivets with its portrayal of how Apple allowed itself to become dependent on China for a huge percentage of its manufacturing, making it vulnerable and unwittingly laying the groundwork for the Asian superpower to rival the US in technological expertise.
After struggling to build its products on three continents, Apple was lured by China’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap labor. Soon it was sending thousands of engineers across the Pacific, training millions of workers, and spending hundreds of billions of dollars to create the world’s most sophisticated supply chain. These capabilities enabled Apple to build the 21st century’s most iconic products—in staggering volume and for enormous profit.
Without explicitly intending to, Apple built an advanced electronics industry within China, only to discover that its massive investments in technology upgrades had inadvertently given Beijing a power that could be weaponized.
In Apple in China, journalist Patrick McGee draws on more than two hundred interviews with former executives and engineers, supplementing their stories with unreported meetings held by Steve Jobs, emails between top executives, and internal memos regarding threats from Chinese competition. The book highlights the unknown characters who were instrumental in Apple’s ascent and who tried to forge a different path, including the Mormon missionary who established the Apple Store in China; the “Gang of Eight” executives tasked with placating Beijing; and an idealistic veteran whose hopes of improving the lives of factory workers were crushed by both Cupertino’s operational demands and Xi Jinping’s war on civil society.
Apple in China is the sometimes disturbing and always revelatory story of how an outspoken, proud company that once praised “rebels” and “troublemakers”—the company that encouraged us all to “Think Different”—devolved into passively cooperating with a belligerent regime that increasingly controls its fate.
“Phenomenal…a jaw-dropping book.” —Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
Named by both The New York Times and T he Economist as one of the best books of the year so far, this “scrupulously reported” (The New Yorker) and “astonishing” (The Daily Telegraph , London) book rivets with its portrayal of how Apple allowed itself to become dependent on China for a huge percentage of its manufacturing, making it vulnerable and unwittingly laying the groundwork for the Asian superpower to rival the US in technological expertise.
After struggling to build its products on three continents, Apple was lured by China’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap labor. Soon it was sending thousands of engineers across the Pacific, training millions of workers, and spending hundreds of billions of dollars to create the world’s most sophisticated supply chain. These capabilities enabled Apple to build the 21st century’s most iconic products—in staggering volume and for enormous profit.
Without explicitly intending to, Apple built an advanced electronics industry within China, only to discover that its massive investments in technology upgrades had inadvertently given Beijing a power that could be weaponized.
In Apple in China, journalist Patrick McGee draws on more than two hundred interviews with former executives and engineers, supplementing their stories with unreported meetings held by Steve Jobs, emails between top executives, and internal memos regarding threats from Chinese competition. The book highlights the unknown characters who were instrumental in Apple’s ascent and who tried to forge a different path, including the Mormon missionary who established the Apple Store in China; the “Gang of Eight” executives tasked with placating Beijing; and an idealistic veteran whose hopes of improving the lives of factory workers were crushed by both Cupertino’s operational demands and Xi Jinping’s war on civil society.
Apple in China is the sometimes disturbing and always revelatory story of how an outspoken, proud company that once praised “rebels” and “troublemakers”—the company that encouraged us all to “Think Different”—devolved into passively cooperating with a belligerent regime that increasingly controls its fate.
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First published January 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 649 reviews
June 16, 2025
One of the best books I've read this year. Learned so much about both Apple's supply chain and China's strategy for growth.
The book details Apple's innovative but impossible designs, which led to unique manufacturing challenges whose answers turned out to be China.
The author has a surprisingly nuanced view on Chinese culture, something rarely seen in books by Western authors. I like the anecdotes on the police, the recruiting of factory workers, as well as Xi's power within the party.
In the ending chapter, the author compares Apple's outsourcing approach to GE's, which some said killed the American industrial revolution because it gave other countries a chance to learn from and compete with the US.
The book details Apple's innovative but impossible designs, which led to unique manufacturing challenges whose answers turned out to be China.
The author has a surprisingly nuanced view on Chinese culture, something rarely seen in books by Western authors. I like the anecdotes on the police, the recruiting of factory workers, as well as Xi's power within the party.
In the ending chapter, the author compares Apple's outsourcing approach to GE's, which some said killed the American industrial revolution because it gave other countries a chance to learn from and compete with the US.
May 18, 2025
This book has convinced me that America can never compete with China without a complete overhaul of its economy. Companies cannot be allowed to operate in a few market they must be directed by the state for collective ends. A state capitalist or corporatist model is clearly the dominant strategy. America has only been able to sustain its “free” market capitalist model because it had no serious competition from geopolitical rivals. America is doomed.
Notes:
1
China and Taiwan were able to lure global manufacturing with subsidies and extremely low labor costs but they needed training in quality. Western companies, especially Apple, demanded extremely high product standards and given the costs and scale potential in China they passed their knowledge on to their local suppliers. The Chinese being a high IQ and conscientious population were able to raise quality standards quickly with the training provided by foreign companies.
After gaining the knowhow from global companies they began producing the same high quality components for their own domestic companies. By this point global companies could not move production elsewhere because there was no where else with the same manufacturing scale plus labor costs were still cheap. Even without subsides manufacturing would stay in China because of declining marginal costs to scale. There are more than a billion people in China and thus their internal supply chains can manage every part of a manufacturing process with the greatest cost savings.
Furthermore, now that all manufacturing is based on China the only people with the knowhow to build and operate these great manufacture plants are Chinese. The design and creativity part is also slowly shifting to China because with manufacturing and manufacturing knowhow comes a deep understanding of how products work. Chinese designers and engineers can start out by replicating and then innovating on western designs. After innovation comes invention and wholly new products.
China is suffering from extremely low fertility on the magnitude of South Korea. Wages are rising in China as a necessity to attract high conscientiousness and high IQ labor. China’s high IQ population will halve this century but so will Europe and America’s which will keep China the best country for scale production. The importation of low IQ populations will only make things worse in western countries.
On a side note, McMee highlights how Xi shut down worker protection activism in China after he came to power. This is good for keeping wages down temporarily but there is no way they can stop the labor shortfall that will inevitably hit the country. And, conversely, it weakens China’s domestic demand making it more reliant on exports. This weakens China’s long term economic stability, but perhaps they’ve deemed it necessary to keep technology transfer to China going for a little while longer.
Eventually, costs will rise to such an extent that it makes sense to outsource some production to other countries even with automation increasing positivity in China. But once China has its own IP, skilled engineers, and designers its own companies can outsource instead of the western companies controlling the outsourcing. Essentially without anything to add the west, and especially America, will be cut out of global manufacturing and invention.
It is hypothesized by neoliberals that importing a new workforce through mass immigration can supplement White populations by doing the jobs Whites don’t want to do. This is not happening, of course. Migrants are brought in specifically to work in certain factory jobs in America. These manufactures gain works to lower cost but they also can never achieve the productivity of Whites thus they can only compete in low end manufacturing where labor costs are key.
Even if this low IQ labor did the jobs that Whites don’t want they also create negative externalities that lower the country’s manufacturing competitiveness. The author mentions that Korean executives were afraid to even visit Mexico because of the heightened chance of being kidnapped and also comments on the violence experienced at Brazilian manufactories. Thus, as America becomes less White and more violent the White workforce will increasingly be underutilized as manufacturing will opt to locate in safe if slightly more expensive countries.
2
Rule by law, as opposed to rule of law, is controlling the behavior of the population, and companies, through laws. Compliance to the law is not necessary the goal, merely to nudge behavior in a certain way.
3
Apple by increasing the knowhow of Chinese suppliers gave Chinese companies the ability to outcompete Apple’s foreign rivals in China inadvertently. Only Apple with its advanced cutting edge processes could weather the competition from new Chinese rivals.
In 2019 Apple was given the great shock as Huawei, a domestic Chinese competitor to Apple, directly competed with them in high end smartphones. Something domestic Chinese competitors hadn’t done to that point. Apple’s knowhow transfers to China had finally caught up with them. Ironically the Trump administrations sanctioning of Huawei and the limitations this put on their acquisition of high end chips saved Apple. Apple quickly gained back all the market share they had lost and Huawei was ruined. I wonder how much Apple lobbyists had to do with that.
Notes:
1
China and Taiwan were able to lure global manufacturing with subsidies and extremely low labor costs but they needed training in quality. Western companies, especially Apple, demanded extremely high product standards and given the costs and scale potential in China they passed their knowledge on to their local suppliers. The Chinese being a high IQ and conscientious population were able to raise quality standards quickly with the training provided by foreign companies.
After gaining the knowhow from global companies they began producing the same high quality components for their own domestic companies. By this point global companies could not move production elsewhere because there was no where else with the same manufacturing scale plus labor costs were still cheap. Even without subsides manufacturing would stay in China because of declining marginal costs to scale. There are more than a billion people in China and thus their internal supply chains can manage every part of a manufacturing process with the greatest cost savings.
Furthermore, now that all manufacturing is based on China the only people with the knowhow to build and operate these great manufacture plants are Chinese. The design and creativity part is also slowly shifting to China because with manufacturing and manufacturing knowhow comes a deep understanding of how products work. Chinese designers and engineers can start out by replicating and then innovating on western designs. After innovation comes invention and wholly new products.
China is suffering from extremely low fertility on the magnitude of South Korea. Wages are rising in China as a necessity to attract high conscientiousness and high IQ labor. China’s high IQ population will halve this century but so will Europe and America’s which will keep China the best country for scale production. The importation of low IQ populations will only make things worse in western countries.
On a side note, McMee highlights how Xi shut down worker protection activism in China after he came to power. This is good for keeping wages down temporarily but there is no way they can stop the labor shortfall that will inevitably hit the country. And, conversely, it weakens China’s domestic demand making it more reliant on exports. This weakens China’s long term economic stability, but perhaps they’ve deemed it necessary to keep technology transfer to China going for a little while longer.
Eventually, costs will rise to such an extent that it makes sense to outsource some production to other countries even with automation increasing positivity in China. But once China has its own IP, skilled engineers, and designers its own companies can outsource instead of the western companies controlling the outsourcing. Essentially without anything to add the west, and especially America, will be cut out of global manufacturing and invention.
It is hypothesized by neoliberals that importing a new workforce through mass immigration can supplement White populations by doing the jobs Whites don’t want to do. This is not happening, of course. Migrants are brought in specifically to work in certain factory jobs in America. These manufactures gain works to lower cost but they also can never achieve the productivity of Whites thus they can only compete in low end manufacturing where labor costs are key.
Even if this low IQ labor did the jobs that Whites don’t want they also create negative externalities that lower the country’s manufacturing competitiveness. The author mentions that Korean executives were afraid to even visit Mexico because of the heightened chance of being kidnapped and also comments on the violence experienced at Brazilian manufactories. Thus, as America becomes less White and more violent the White workforce will increasingly be underutilized as manufacturing will opt to locate in safe if slightly more expensive countries.
2
Rule by law, as opposed to rule of law, is controlling the behavior of the population, and companies, through laws. Compliance to the law is not necessary the goal, merely to nudge behavior in a certain way.
3
Apple by increasing the knowhow of Chinese suppliers gave Chinese companies the ability to outcompete Apple’s foreign rivals in China inadvertently. Only Apple with its advanced cutting edge processes could weather the competition from new Chinese rivals.
In 2019 Apple was given the great shock as Huawei, a domestic Chinese competitor to Apple, directly competed with them in high end smartphones. Something domestic Chinese competitors hadn’t done to that point. Apple’s knowhow transfers to China had finally caught up with them. Ironically the Trump administrations sanctioning of Huawei and the limitations this put on their acquisition of high end chips saved Apple. Apple quickly gained back all the market share they had lost and Huawei was ruined. I wonder how much Apple lobbyists had to do with that.
September 22, 2025
This book provides a history of Apple beginning in its early days of near bankruptcy together with the leaving and return of Steve Jobs, and then proceeding to tell of Tim Cook advocating for outsourcing of manufacturing to countries with low cost labor and motivated workforce. In the early 2000s China was uniquely positioned to provide the necessary labor within a command and control political system which could respond quickly to the needs of Apple.
At first the Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn served as a go-between Apple and Chinese officials, and served as the primary manufacturer of Apple products in China. Over the years more and more of the parts that fed into Apple products were also manufactured in China. With the rise of Chinese suppliers and manufacturers the importance of Foxconn has been reduced.
Apple was different from most other companies in that they not only provided the design but they remained very much involved in the manufacturing process to assure the desired quality. Their involvement often included providing Apple owned equipment within the contracted manufacturer’s facilities. Using this hands-on involvement, Apple has trained millions of Chinese engineers and workers whose knowhow has now spread throughout the Chinese economy.
The increased authoritarianism displayed by the Xi Jinping led government has put the squeeze on Apple in a number of ways to remind it where the real power lies. In recent years Apple has begun to appear politically vulnerable and a captive of their own strategy:
In the final chapter the author speculates on Tim Cook's legacy and wonders how it will be judged by history. The case of Jack Welsh at GE in the last years of the twentieth century is referenced. At the time Welsh was considered to be one of most successful CEOs ever. David Gelles in his 2022 book The Man Who Broke Capitalism criticized Welch's practices and legacy as a bad influence on corporate America and ultimately self-destructive for GE and the U.S. economy.
Tim Cook may appear to be a genius by making Apple one of the most valuable companies in the world, but there are obvious vulnerabilities and with the perspective of history his short term strategy may appear to foolish in the long run. Apple may someday be judged to be a "useful idiot" in helping China to become a dominate economy with advanced technology, and if Xi has his way the example of China will lead to the worldwide end of democracies.
At first the Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn served as a go-between Apple and Chinese officials, and served as the primary manufacturer of Apple products in China. Over the years more and more of the parts that fed into Apple products were also manufactured in China. With the rise of Chinese suppliers and manufacturers the importance of Foxconn has been reduced.
Apple was different from most other companies in that they not only provided the design but they remained very much involved in the manufacturing process to assure the desired quality. Their involvement often included providing Apple owned equipment within the contracted manufacturer’s facilities. Using this hands-on involvement, Apple has trained millions of Chinese engineers and workers whose knowhow has now spread throughout the Chinese economy.
The increased authoritarianism displayed by the Xi Jinping led government has put the squeeze on Apple in a number of ways to remind it where the real power lies. In recent years Apple has begun to appear politically vulnerable and a captive of their own strategy:
... Apple's strategy was brilliant. ... But it had one major flaw. Whereas smartphone rivals like Samsung could bolt a bunch of off-the-shelf components together and make a handset, Apple's strategy required it to become ever more wedded to the industrial clusters forming around its production. As more of that work took place in China with no other nation developing the same skills Apple was growing dependent on the very capabilities it had created. ... ... The more Apple scaled, the more economic sense it made for all the components inside its products to be made within the country. ... They're gonna have a hell of a time getting out of there.There were a number of stories within this book's narrative about the complications and difficulty of doing business in China. Some of the problems related to selling retail products in China were particularly bazaar. Of particular interest was an incident that made it necessary for Tim Cook to apologize for Apple arrogance and be shown on China television bowing to Xi Jinping.
In the final chapter the author speculates on Tim Cook's legacy and wonders how it will be judged by history. The case of Jack Welsh at GE in the last years of the twentieth century is referenced. At the time Welsh was considered to be one of most successful CEOs ever. David Gelles in his 2022 book The Man Who Broke Capitalism criticized Welch's practices and legacy as a bad influence on corporate America and ultimately self-destructive for GE and the U.S. economy.
Tim Cook may appear to be a genius by making Apple one of the most valuable companies in the world, but there are obvious vulnerabilities and with the perspective of history his short term strategy may appear to foolish in the long run. Apple may someday be judged to be a "useful idiot" in helping China to become a dominate economy with advanced technology, and if Xi has his way the example of China will lead to the worldwide end of democracies.
August 27, 2025
Another five-star read for me (seems like this year I really love what I read or really hate it. Not a lot of middle ground). Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company is a brilliant depiction of how even the world’s most innovative, most powerful tech company, can seemingly be making all the right business decisions - only for geopolitics to rear its ugly head and leave Apple - along with other huge corporations- in an extremely vulnerable position.
As other reviewers have said, this book is such a worthwhile read because it doesn’t take sides, something more investigative journalists could really learn from. Instead, Patrick McGee explains how the complexities of Apple’s manufacturing lines in China have only increased under the rule of the much more authoritarian regime of Xi Jinping.
He does this in a way that avoids so much of the fanboy behavior espoused by many tech reporters, but he also doesn’t place the blame squarely on Tim Cook, acknowledging the extremely difficult position he’s in, between having to appease two governments that are in many ways, polar opposites of one another - at least, for now. Even if they become more alike as the U.S. has taken a much more authoritarian turn, that will only make it more difficult to please two authoritarian leaders who are sworn enemies of one another in the context of the global economy.
It’s also interesting to point out that McGee doesn’t treat China and their culture with the same simplistic bias as most reporters do when covering Chinese events. He talks to a number of sources intimately familiar with the country and its politics, and just how much CCP rule factors into a business’s success or failure in the region.
It’s safe to say that all the talk of the Chinese “stealing” our technology is, for the most part, put to rest as well - how exactly can we accuse the Chinese of “intellectual property theft” when we sent the best and brightest engineers to the country, to the factory floors with them - teaching them to manufacture the highest quality products possible in exchange for ultra cheap - sometimes even free - labor?
I guess that one wasn’t thought through enough. Even if the country had become more democratic as it continued opening up, it’s puzzling for me to try to understand why these highly trained Apple engineers wouldn’t worry about this exact result, at some point in the future? It’s rather well-known to the world that the Chinese people are, on average, very skilled, very well-educated, and very capable people. So why would they learn these invaluable skills and continue helping the West, always being seen as their underlings, when they’d acquired the skill set to strike out on their own? No one will want to continue working for someone else in a foreign country if they can be their own boss in their own country.
I have no idea what’s in store for the U.S. economy and the very serious problem that Apple and basically, the entire world, faces, when it comes to China. There’s absolutely no way to continue to compete and outperform them in the upcoming years. But it’s not exactly as if we can ignore them, which is what it feels like we often try to do.
The brain drain this country is experiencing as some of our brightest immigrants get deported by ICE right before graduating from Harvard, MIT, Stanford - not helping the problem. Why not get rid of completely non-threatening immigrants who have so much to offer this country? What a disaster. I don’t care how much money Tim Cook has, or makes. I don’t envy him one bit right now.
Recommend to all - the chapters aren’t overly lengthy, which is nice - but not a mere couple page, either. Usually between 8-12 pages, which was a good average for this type of book.
As other reviewers have said, this book is such a worthwhile read because it doesn’t take sides, something more investigative journalists could really learn from. Instead, Patrick McGee explains how the complexities of Apple’s manufacturing lines in China have only increased under the rule of the much more authoritarian regime of Xi Jinping.
He does this in a way that avoids so much of the fanboy behavior espoused by many tech reporters, but he also doesn’t place the blame squarely on Tim Cook, acknowledging the extremely difficult position he’s in, between having to appease two governments that are in many ways, polar opposites of one another - at least, for now. Even if they become more alike as the U.S. has taken a much more authoritarian turn, that will only make it more difficult to please two authoritarian leaders who are sworn enemies of one another in the context of the global economy.
It’s also interesting to point out that McGee doesn’t treat China and their culture with the same simplistic bias as most reporters do when covering Chinese events. He talks to a number of sources intimately familiar with the country and its politics, and just how much CCP rule factors into a business’s success or failure in the region.
It’s safe to say that all the talk of the Chinese “stealing” our technology is, for the most part, put to rest as well - how exactly can we accuse the Chinese of “intellectual property theft” when we sent the best and brightest engineers to the country, to the factory floors with them - teaching them to manufacture the highest quality products possible in exchange for ultra cheap - sometimes even free - labor?
I guess that one wasn’t thought through enough. Even if the country had become more democratic as it continued opening up, it’s puzzling for me to try to understand why these highly trained Apple engineers wouldn’t worry about this exact result, at some point in the future? It’s rather well-known to the world that the Chinese people are, on average, very skilled, very well-educated, and very capable people. So why would they learn these invaluable skills and continue helping the West, always being seen as their underlings, when they’d acquired the skill set to strike out on their own? No one will want to continue working for someone else in a foreign country if they can be their own boss in their own country.
I have no idea what’s in store for the U.S. economy and the very serious problem that Apple and basically, the entire world, faces, when it comes to China. There’s absolutely no way to continue to compete and outperform them in the upcoming years. But it’s not exactly as if we can ignore them, which is what it feels like we often try to do.
The brain drain this country is experiencing as some of our brightest immigrants get deported by ICE right before graduating from Harvard, MIT, Stanford - not helping the problem. Why not get rid of completely non-threatening immigrants who have so much to offer this country? What a disaster. I don’t care how much money Tim Cook has, or makes. I don’t envy him one bit right now.
Recommend to all - the chapters aren’t overly lengthy, which is nice - but not a mere couple page, either. Usually between 8-12 pages, which was a good average for this type of book.
August 10, 2025
This book grabbed my attention right away and never let go. The mix of behind the scenes stories and smart business talk made it both fun and eye opening. I had no idea how complex it is for a company like Apple to grow in China while answering to American expectations at the same time. The way the author explains the politics strategy and human side of it all is fascinating. If you are into business or just want a great real world story about one of the most successful companies ever I highly recommend it.
As a side note, I have a twin sister who is bipolar, so it’s always interesting to see how different people overcome it and end up being so successful. Such a fascinating disorder.
As a side note, I have a twin sister who is bipolar, so it’s always interesting to see how different people overcome it and end up being so successful. Such a fascinating disorder.
May 27, 2025
This is an exceptionally good view into three overlapping closed societies: Apple’s manufacturing operations, the electronics industry general, and China. I’m fairly familiar with each but learned quite a bit from this book — in addition to some otherwise unavailable information, it included a very coherent analysis of how the three together evolved to where they are today. This is honestly better than Chip War, any of the fawning Apple/Jobs hagiographies, or other popular books about any of these topics. The only side it is missing is CCP insider political takes from that side, but there is more about that in this book than most other accounts.
Ultimately, Apple’s move to China was not a planned effort (by Apple), but essentially developed the high end Chinese electronics manufacturing ecosystem. Apple had market power to demand excellence from vendors, and could beat them up on price/margins, but due to order sizes they were still profitable. However, the key insight is how the political structure of China (an extreme form of federalism, where the central party creates goals and local officials compete to implement them in concrete ways), manufacturing subsidies, and other specific aspects of post-Mao China pulled Apple into building an entire ecosystem.
Ultimately, Apple’s move to China was not a planned effort (by Apple), but essentially developed the high end Chinese electronics manufacturing ecosystem. Apple had market power to demand excellence from vendors, and could beat them up on price/margins, but due to order sizes they were still profitable. However, the key insight is how the political structure of China (an extreme form of federalism, where the central party creates goals and local officials compete to implement them in concrete ways), manufacturing subsidies, and other specific aspects of post-Mao China pulled Apple into building an entire ecosystem.
August 8, 2025
Patrick McGee is an investigative journalist who led Apple coverage at the Financial Times from 2019-2023. His 2025 debut full-length book, Apple in China, brings together years of investigative reporting, on-the-ground interviews, and contextual business analysis to explore Apple’s entanglement with China. This is a well-researched and fascinating read.
McGee traces the shift of Apple manufacturing from the US and other countries to China beginning in the 1990s, through the second Jobs era and into the Tim Cook years. What emerges is a portrait not just of economic dependence, but of an increasingly complex geopolitical dynamic - one that feels increasingly unsustainable.
There are two primary threads to the book. The first is the more familiar one to Western readers: Apple has become deeply, and perhaps dangerously, dependent on China. As China grows more authoritarian under Xi Jinping and tensions between China and the US continue to escalate, McGee illustrates how Apple is increasingly caught in a high-stakes standoff between political appeasement and global market demand.
The second thread, which I found even more interesting, is about the impact of Apple on China - specifically, how Apple’s presence shaped Chinese business practices, labor markets, consumer culture, and technological growth. McGee dives into how Apple’s meticulous supply chain operations became an informal training ground for a generation of savvy Chinese entrepreneurs, some of whom later launched successful knockoff brands or directly contributed to the rise of Huawei. This will appeal to readers interested in industrial espionage, IP transfer, and China’s hybrid model of state capitalism. He also includes the perspective of factory workers from rural China, who saw Apple assembly jobs as a financial lifeline despite the exploitative conditions. McGee also explores how Apple products pervade Chinese culture not only as consumer goods but as commodities in a secondary gray market, from scalpers to fraudsters to police who look the other way. This was fascinating for me (as a Westerner) to read about.
Though I listened to the audiobook that didn't include citations (typical for audiobooks), this book appears to be excellently-researched. In addition to new documents McGee procured through freedom of information requests, he also interviewed a wide range of sources, including current/former Apple employees and contractors.
One strength of the book is its tone. McGee doesn’t resort to tech-bro breathlessness or anti-corporate screed. Nor does he throw Tim Cook under the bus. There’s a balanced, sober view of what Apple’s choices have meant, to its shareholders, its customers, and to the workers and communities affected by those choices. In the hands of a different writer, this book might have read as a hit piece. Instead, McGee emphasizes complexity and competing incentives. As the book suggests, the West believed that by partnering with China, it would nudge the country toward democracy and open markets. Instead, the opposite seems to have happened - and Apple, by many measures the most powerful company in the world, is now bound up in that miscalculation.
Further reading: technology, East-West relations, and global interconnectedness:
House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company by Eva Dou
The Struggle for Taiwan: A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between by Sulmaan Wasif Khan
China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict by David Daokui Li
The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity by Amy Webb
Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future by Vince Beiser
Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization by Ed Conway
Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. by Rachel Slade
How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain by Peter Goodman
My statistics:
Book 246 for 2025
Book 2172 cumulatively
McGee traces the shift of Apple manufacturing from the US and other countries to China beginning in the 1990s, through the second Jobs era and into the Tim Cook years. What emerges is a portrait not just of economic dependence, but of an increasingly complex geopolitical dynamic - one that feels increasingly unsustainable.
There are two primary threads to the book. The first is the more familiar one to Western readers: Apple has become deeply, and perhaps dangerously, dependent on China. As China grows more authoritarian under Xi Jinping and tensions between China and the US continue to escalate, McGee illustrates how Apple is increasingly caught in a high-stakes standoff between political appeasement and global market demand.
The second thread, which I found even more interesting, is about the impact of Apple on China - specifically, how Apple’s presence shaped Chinese business practices, labor markets, consumer culture, and technological growth. McGee dives into how Apple’s meticulous supply chain operations became an informal training ground for a generation of savvy Chinese entrepreneurs, some of whom later launched successful knockoff brands or directly contributed to the rise of Huawei. This will appeal to readers interested in industrial espionage, IP transfer, and China’s hybrid model of state capitalism. He also includes the perspective of factory workers from rural China, who saw Apple assembly jobs as a financial lifeline despite the exploitative conditions. McGee also explores how Apple products pervade Chinese culture not only as consumer goods but as commodities in a secondary gray market, from scalpers to fraudsters to police who look the other way. This was fascinating for me (as a Westerner) to read about.
Though I listened to the audiobook that didn't include citations (typical for audiobooks), this book appears to be excellently-researched. In addition to new documents McGee procured through freedom of information requests, he also interviewed a wide range of sources, including current/former Apple employees and contractors.
One strength of the book is its tone. McGee doesn’t resort to tech-bro breathlessness or anti-corporate screed. Nor does he throw Tim Cook under the bus. There’s a balanced, sober view of what Apple’s choices have meant, to its shareholders, its customers, and to the workers and communities affected by those choices. In the hands of a different writer, this book might have read as a hit piece. Instead, McGee emphasizes complexity and competing incentives. As the book suggests, the West believed that by partnering with China, it would nudge the country toward democracy and open markets. Instead, the opposite seems to have happened - and Apple, by many measures the most powerful company in the world, is now bound up in that miscalculation.
Further reading: technology, East-West relations, and global interconnectedness:
House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company by Eva Dou
The Struggle for Taiwan: A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between by Sulmaan Wasif Khan
China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict by David Daokui Li
The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity by Amy Webb
Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future by Vince Beiser
Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization by Ed Conway
Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. by Rachel Slade
How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain by Peter Goodman
My statistics:
Book 246 for 2025
Book 2172 cumulatively
October 14, 2025
Apple makes 90% of its i-phones in China. To do so it made a devils pact:cheap labour, bad working conditions, with an authoritarian state. With the recent U.S. and China tariff war they may regret their decision. Formosa, independent but still claimed by mainland China, has the largest semiconductor company in the world, makes over 60% of the world's conductor chips and 90% of advanced ones. Putting most of their eggs in one basket may backfire on them.
June 23, 2025
There’s a pretty significant amount of American coded fear mongering of China, but still book gives a very deep insight into how capitalist society unintentionally working towards its own demise. Unfortunately, as we see around, back towards fascistic imperialism.
June 25, 2025
This isn’t a story about the globalization of electronics, but rather, about its Chinafication.
A great business book, this year's "Chip War". Provides a comprehensive look at Apple and China, and how the two are intertwined. Has a great deal of interesting details, with both history and the assessment of the current situation.
A great business book, this year's "Chip War". Provides a comprehensive look at Apple and China, and how the two are intertwined. Has a great deal of interesting details, with both history and the assessment of the current situation.
November 13, 2025
This is great! It's crazy how none of Apple moving 99% of its value to China was planned, and just came about by various managers at third party companies just trying to keep up with the demand for iPods. Then if you have a cheaper price for your Chinese output than your Taiwan output, how about we skip the Taiwan part of the process? Then a guy who thought he'd be a greeter at an Apple store ending up in charge of billions of dollars worth of iPhones flowing into the Chinese grey market. Then the general manager of China not being copied in on the important emails because they were merely a figurehead.
Then... whoops, cleaning blood off the floor of the Apple store, forced labourers throwing themselves off the roof of your factories, and then you're accidentally in bed with the brutal totalitarian government.
Then... whoops, cleaning blood off the floor of the Apple store, forced labourers throwing themselves off the roof of your factories, and then you're accidentally in bed with the brutal totalitarian government.
June 11, 2025
Based on my reading, it’s important to know that fulfilling the demands of millions of customers is not only about building a good product but having a good grasp on its operations and especially supply chain aspects of it.
Another key point that I learned was companies went to the lowest profit possible to accommodate Apple’s needs. The country supported to build machinery required and at times went at length to provide people to work at factories.
Holidays and other factors affect workers’ morale to join back and it created the issue of retaining the employees. The retention and culture is impossible to copy in other countries due to cultural differences and finding people who are as hardworking and focused as Chinese people are.
I was thinking that most of the message is keeping America and Apple’s interest in mind. The writer takes almost a fictional angle in describing Apple’s role in building China’s electronics manufacturing. The book doesn’t acknowledge that companies like Motorola, IBM, HP, Dell, Intel, Cisco, Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens, and Japanese companies like Panasonic and Sharp had already established manufacturing operations in China 10 to 20 years before Apple entered China. These companies had already brought quality standards and manufacturing discipline to Chinese suppliers. Also whenever China’s ground realities affect Apple’s operation, how Apple escaped by narrow edge.
I like the optimism flow that after every challenge the author shared why a certain approach was taken. At the same time, I feel like most of the references do not take the Chinese perspective.
The author did focus on the right areas - keeping away from Steve Jobs biographies or design methodologies that other Apple books cover extensively, and instead concentrated on the China relationship that really shapes Apple’s current reality. Despite the narrative limitations, the book does reveal important lessons about global supply chains and corporate strategy.
**Key takeaways:**
1/ It takes the work of a lot of smart people to build together a great operation and supply chain management. All decisions cannot be perfect, many are compromises, or using the opportunity that Apple used in its favor to build things how they are.
2/ China offering low cost and focused approach has managed to achieve a lot of attention for different U.S. and E.U. companies but they did not only deliver the best value but also learned a great deal to create an ecosystem that supported Huawei and Honor.
3/ The book mentions TSMC, the Taiwanese company, as a critical point of failure for Apple. Political turmoil can affect hugely different companies. For example, Trump banning Huawei created an opportunity for Apple that was not there. It is important to keep connected with political policies and vision of different countries.
A good read, read it with a pinch of salt, as many of the facts could be one side narrative and may not give the whole truth.
Another key point that I learned was companies went to the lowest profit possible to accommodate Apple’s needs. The country supported to build machinery required and at times went at length to provide people to work at factories.
Holidays and other factors affect workers’ morale to join back and it created the issue of retaining the employees. The retention and culture is impossible to copy in other countries due to cultural differences and finding people who are as hardworking and focused as Chinese people are.
I was thinking that most of the message is keeping America and Apple’s interest in mind. The writer takes almost a fictional angle in describing Apple’s role in building China’s electronics manufacturing. The book doesn’t acknowledge that companies like Motorola, IBM, HP, Dell, Intel, Cisco, Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens, and Japanese companies like Panasonic and Sharp had already established manufacturing operations in China 10 to 20 years before Apple entered China. These companies had already brought quality standards and manufacturing discipline to Chinese suppliers. Also whenever China’s ground realities affect Apple’s operation, how Apple escaped by narrow edge.
I like the optimism flow that after every challenge the author shared why a certain approach was taken. At the same time, I feel like most of the references do not take the Chinese perspective.
The author did focus on the right areas - keeping away from Steve Jobs biographies or design methodologies that other Apple books cover extensively, and instead concentrated on the China relationship that really shapes Apple’s current reality. Despite the narrative limitations, the book does reveal important lessons about global supply chains and corporate strategy.
**Key takeaways:**
1/ It takes the work of a lot of smart people to build together a great operation and supply chain management. All decisions cannot be perfect, many are compromises, or using the opportunity that Apple used in its favor to build things how they are.
2/ China offering low cost and focused approach has managed to achieve a lot of attention for different U.S. and E.U. companies but they did not only deliver the best value but also learned a great deal to create an ecosystem that supported Huawei and Honor.
3/ The book mentions TSMC, the Taiwanese company, as a critical point of failure for Apple. Political turmoil can affect hugely different companies. For example, Trump banning Huawei created an opportunity for Apple that was not there. It is important to keep connected with political policies and vision of different countries.
A good read, read it with a pinch of salt, as many of the facts could be one side narrative and may not give the whole truth.
August 11, 2025
I make a disclosure; I am writing this review on my MacBook Air. While my iPad and iPhone sit patiently on my desk. Over a decade ago I read Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs and over the years I have seen reports of Apple’s stupendous growth. I heard Patrick Magee interviewed on radio and his comments about Apple’s relationship with China interested me greatly.
The book gives a brief account of the early growth of Apple, Job’s departure and then return. The predictions that Tim Cook would not be able to fill the Jobs’ New Balance runners and then Apple’s ‘move’ to China.
Most of the book details the trials and tribulations that Apple faced as it grew into one of the largest corporations in the world. An aspect of the book I liked were the anecdotes that Magee wrote about key Apple employees.
Readers interested in company structures, supply chain issues, partnerships with manufacturers, inventory, marketing strategies, consumer behaviour and ultimately dealing with the Chinese Communist Party, in particular Xi Jinping, would find this book most interesting.
Apple never made anything itself. Their whole manufacturing structure was set around designated suppliers making all the components for their different devices. Fox Conn, Pegatron, Wistron and Samsung were all key suppliers. Apple engineers worked closely with suppliers, training their staff.
Apple had no factories like Air BnB owned no buildings, Grab never cooked a meal, and Uber owned no vehicles.
The company had a pathological commitment to quality, innovation and research and development.
Apple’s relationship with China began to change from 2012 when Xi Jinping came to power. The days when westerners believed economic growth would lead to the growth of liberalism in China were in for a shock. Xi was more Mao than Deng. China did not want to just stay as a location of low wages and costs. The concept of Chinafication began to grow where the Chinese learned the skills to own and control manufacturing. In the mind of Chinese leaders the first model was imported, the second made in China and the third was exported. In negotiation with foreign countries “win win” meant China won twice.
Xi Changed the game. He was a committed Marxist, and many large private Chinese companies were brought under government control. Magee relates the story of the rise and fall of the entrepreneur Jack Ma, owner of the Alibaba Group.
Apple’s experience in China should be taken as a salutary lesson to all companies wanting to manufacture in China. They should realize that China is a ruthless authoritarian state where laws are made to benefit the state and the judicial system is closely controlled by the CCP. Businesses need to have a deep cultural understanding, develop strategic partnerships, be prepared to have diversified supply chains outside of China. Use appropriate risk assessments.
As I read, I reflected on the economic and social troubles that western countries face because of the rise of China and how western capitalism has readily fallen into the situation where China has vacuumed employment out of manufacturing leaving vast parts of countries, especially the US, in a state of dangerous unemployment levels and the decimation not just of firms, but whole industries and locations.
Is Apple a metaphor for western capitalism where emphasis is on short term gain and shareholder return and bugger everything else? Is the rise of Trump and right-wing governments a direct consequence of our illicit affair with China? As Apple is trapped are western economies similarly trapped? How does the western world regain control of their economies and subsequently their societies?
The book gives a brief account of the early growth of Apple, Job’s departure and then return. The predictions that Tim Cook would not be able to fill the Jobs’ New Balance runners and then Apple’s ‘move’ to China.
Most of the book details the trials and tribulations that Apple faced as it grew into one of the largest corporations in the world. An aspect of the book I liked were the anecdotes that Magee wrote about key Apple employees.
Readers interested in company structures, supply chain issues, partnerships with manufacturers, inventory, marketing strategies, consumer behaviour and ultimately dealing with the Chinese Communist Party, in particular Xi Jinping, would find this book most interesting.
Apple never made anything itself. Their whole manufacturing structure was set around designated suppliers making all the components for their different devices. Fox Conn, Pegatron, Wistron and Samsung were all key suppliers. Apple engineers worked closely with suppliers, training their staff.
Apple had no factories like Air BnB owned no buildings, Grab never cooked a meal, and Uber owned no vehicles.
The company had a pathological commitment to quality, innovation and research and development.
Apple’s relationship with China began to change from 2012 when Xi Jinping came to power. The days when westerners believed economic growth would lead to the growth of liberalism in China were in for a shock. Xi was more Mao than Deng. China did not want to just stay as a location of low wages and costs. The concept of Chinafication began to grow where the Chinese learned the skills to own and control manufacturing. In the mind of Chinese leaders the first model was imported, the second made in China and the third was exported. In negotiation with foreign countries “win win” meant China won twice.
Xi Changed the game. He was a committed Marxist, and many large private Chinese companies were brought under government control. Magee relates the story of the rise and fall of the entrepreneur Jack Ma, owner of the Alibaba Group.
Apple’s experience in China should be taken as a salutary lesson to all companies wanting to manufacture in China. They should realize that China is a ruthless authoritarian state where laws are made to benefit the state and the judicial system is closely controlled by the CCP. Businesses need to have a deep cultural understanding, develop strategic partnerships, be prepared to have diversified supply chains outside of China. Use appropriate risk assessments.
As I read, I reflected on the economic and social troubles that western countries face because of the rise of China and how western capitalism has readily fallen into the situation where China has vacuumed employment out of manufacturing leaving vast parts of countries, especially the US, in a state of dangerous unemployment levels and the decimation not just of firms, but whole industries and locations.
Is Apple a metaphor for western capitalism where emphasis is on short term gain and shareholder return and bugger everything else? Is the rise of Trump and right-wing governments a direct consequence of our illicit affair with China? As Apple is trapped are western economies similarly trapped? How does the western world regain control of their economies and subsequently their societies?
August 11, 2025
Designed in Cupertino. Manufactured in China is a misnomer. Apple in China details how financial pressures forced Steve Jobs to liquidate Apples domestic manufacturing and relinquish control to state subsidied Chinese factories.
While Jony Ive is rightly revered for his visionary role the technical execution and industrial design capabilities came from Chinese electronic contract manufacturers. Their role went far beyond simple fabrication, these contractors were intimately involved in bringing the design to life.
Contract manufacturers like Foxconn were eager to secure Apple’s business, even at below-market margins, drawn in by the promise of high-volume contracts. Lax labor laws and heavy state subsidies made China uniquely capable of scaling fast and cheap.
Apple didn’t just manufacture products, it manufactured capability. By seeding industrial clusters across China, it accelerated the country’s rise as the global hub for high-volume, high-quality electronics production. In doing so, Apple inadvertently trained its future competitors to build comparable products.
Rather than endure the Chinese Communist system, Apple leveraged it; its rise came not despite but because of a market stripped of labor rights, democracy, press scrutiny, unions, and NGOs.
This nearly 400-page book is sharp, dense, and unapologetically political. Packed with detail, sometimes too much, it’s a must-read for anyone interested in tech, supply chains, or labor dynamics. Definitely worth it, but not a light read.
While Jony Ive is rightly revered for his visionary role the technical execution and industrial design capabilities came from Chinese electronic contract manufacturers. Their role went far beyond simple fabrication, these contractors were intimately involved in bringing the design to life.
Contract manufacturers like Foxconn were eager to secure Apple’s business, even at below-market margins, drawn in by the promise of high-volume contracts. Lax labor laws and heavy state subsidies made China uniquely capable of scaling fast and cheap.
Apple didn’t just manufacture products, it manufactured capability. By seeding industrial clusters across China, it accelerated the country’s rise as the global hub for high-volume, high-quality electronics production. In doing so, Apple inadvertently trained its future competitors to build comparable products.
Rather than endure the Chinese Communist system, Apple leveraged it; its rise came not despite but because of a market stripped of labor rights, democracy, press scrutiny, unions, and NGOs.
This nearly 400-page book is sharp, dense, and unapologetically political. Packed with detail, sometimes too much, it’s a must-read for anyone interested in tech, supply chains, or labor dynamics. Definitely worth it, but not a light read.
July 6, 2025
Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company (2025) by Patrick McGhee is a really interesting book. The book describes how Apple moved their manufacturing into China and how they have become dependent on China. McGhee is a journalist who reported on Apple for the Financial Times from 2019 to 2023.
The book starts by looking at Apple’s revival under Steve Jobs after he returned. There are remarkable descriptions of Apple selling off their factories in the US and one negotiator being told ‘you won’t get paid unless the deal is done by Thursday’. The negotiator fired back that this was unfair but the reply was given that no-one at Apple would get paid unless the deal was done because the finances were so bad.
After Steve Jobs revived Apple, first with the iMacs, then with OSX Apple started to use contract manufacturers, this was first done in the US, then in Japan, then Korea, then Taiwan and finally by the Taiwanese company Foxconn. This led Apple into China.
The creation of the iPod and it’s sucess was also driven by Apple using contract manufacturers in China. The book goes into detail about Apple engineers worked extensively with these manufacturers to make these very successful devices.
The book book then describes the work that went into manufacturing the iPhone. Apple did a great job with the design but they also worked incredibly hard with their suppliers to build the device. McGhee writes extensively about just how hard it was to get the glass, the antenna, the cameras and more right for the device.
After the iPhone the iPad was next built in China. Also demand in China itself began to grow. What had been an afterthought for Apple became a major market. The book has incredible stories about how organised crime would buy up all the iPhones from Apple stores and resell them.
Apple’s work with many firms also enabled them to work for other companies. McGhee argues that Apple trained many factories in how to work better to produce high quality components for smartphones and laptops. There are stories of former factory employees telling Apple that they are going to work for Huawei and other Chinese companies for more pay.
Apple’s dependence on China also enabled the Chinese government to put pressure on Apple. Apple can simply no longer build their devices without China. Also the Chinese market has become such a large factor that they also depend on Chinese sales as well. Their Chinese sales are also under threat from companies like Huawei that are building tri-fold phones that exceed what even Apple is capable of.
Apple in China is a fascinating book. McGhee does a great job of bringing to life Apples incredible work with their manufacturers. Most books about Apple focus on their hardware and software design. McGhee’s book is the first to focus on the critical back end as well. The book does an excellent job of describing how Apple has empowered Chinese firms and become dependent on China for their manufacturing and as a market. It’s an excellent read.
The book starts by looking at Apple’s revival under Steve Jobs after he returned. There are remarkable descriptions of Apple selling off their factories in the US and one negotiator being told ‘you won’t get paid unless the deal is done by Thursday’. The negotiator fired back that this was unfair but the reply was given that no-one at Apple would get paid unless the deal was done because the finances were so bad.
After Steve Jobs revived Apple, first with the iMacs, then with OSX Apple started to use contract manufacturers, this was first done in the US, then in Japan, then Korea, then Taiwan and finally by the Taiwanese company Foxconn. This led Apple into China.
The creation of the iPod and it’s sucess was also driven by Apple using contract manufacturers in China. The book goes into detail about Apple engineers worked extensively with these manufacturers to make these very successful devices.
The book book then describes the work that went into manufacturing the iPhone. Apple did a great job with the design but they also worked incredibly hard with their suppliers to build the device. McGhee writes extensively about just how hard it was to get the glass, the antenna, the cameras and more right for the device.
After the iPhone the iPad was next built in China. Also demand in China itself began to grow. What had been an afterthought for Apple became a major market. The book has incredible stories about how organised crime would buy up all the iPhones from Apple stores and resell them.
Apple’s work with many firms also enabled them to work for other companies. McGhee argues that Apple trained many factories in how to work better to produce high quality components for smartphones and laptops. There are stories of former factory employees telling Apple that they are going to work for Huawei and other Chinese companies for more pay.
Apple’s dependence on China also enabled the Chinese government to put pressure on Apple. Apple can simply no longer build their devices without China. Also the Chinese market has become such a large factor that they also depend on Chinese sales as well. Their Chinese sales are also under threat from companies like Huawei that are building tri-fold phones that exceed what even Apple is capable of.
Apple in China is a fascinating book. McGhee does a great job of bringing to life Apples incredible work with their manufacturers. Most books about Apple focus on their hardware and software design. McGhee’s book is the first to focus on the critical back end as well. The book does an excellent job of describing how Apple has empowered Chinese firms and become dependent on China for their manufacturing and as a market. It’s an excellent read.
November 3, 2025
McGee does a fantastic job of navigating the complex world of Chinese politics from a business perspective.
The start of the book is fascinating to understand how Apple went from a visionary (albeit financially challenged) company to an operational powerhouse.
The later chapters do a great job outlining the move from Apple’s exploitation of cheap labour in China to the rise of CCP control.
It’ll be hugely interesting to see how the company operates in an increasingly volatile US / China world. I struggle to see a way they can de-risk from China without a significant dent to their revenues.
The start of the book is fascinating to understand how Apple went from a visionary (albeit financially challenged) company to an operational powerhouse.
The later chapters do a great job outlining the move from Apple’s exploitation of cheap labour in China to the rise of CCP control.
It’ll be hugely interesting to see how the company operates in an increasingly volatile US / China world. I struggle to see a way they can de-risk from China without a significant dent to their revenues.
July 19, 2025
"Apple In China" details the symbiotic relationship between Apple and China. As author Patrick McGee illustrates, the company's success is tied to China. At first, it moved production there to save money and speed things up. Chinese partners, like Foxconn, built massive factories, hired millions of workers, and got help from the government. Apple didn’t just use this labor — it trained it. The company helped Chinese factories master high-tech skills, creating a supply chain so efficient that Apple couldn’t easily leave, even if it wanted to.
This relationship gave Apple huge profits, but it also gave China a major boost. Chinese workers made Apple products, and soon, Chinese customers were buying them. Apple’s tech know-how helped local companies like Huawei and Xiaomi improve fast. Many now make phones that compete with or beat the iPhone. While Apple got rich, China became a leader in advanced manufacturing, partly thanks to what Apple shared.
But the cost is high. Apple must now follow China’s rules, including censorship and keeping user data inside the country. The company has removed apps the government doesn’t like and stayed quiet on labor issues. The book shows how Apple made China stronger while becoming trapped in a system it helped build. What started as a smart business move has become a risky dependence that affects not just Apple, but the world.
Top Takeaways From The Book
• Apple has trained over 28 million workers in China since 2008—more than California’s total workforce.
• Apple’s annual investment in China exceeds U.S. government spending on domestic chip production.
• Apple helped build China’s tech manufacturing skills, training suppliers to meet its high product standards.
• Apple relied on Foxconn, which built massive factory cities and hired millions to produce Apple products.
• Apple operated in China without a joint venture, instead working directly with thousands of local suppliers.
• Apple’s data and apps in China are controlled by the Chinese government, including censorship and data storage.
• Tim Cook had to please both U.S. and Chinese leaders, while quietly pretending to expand U.S. manufacturing.
• China’s homegrown brands, like Huawei and Xiaomi, learned from Apple’s supply chain and now outsell Apple.
• Most Apple manufacturing is still in China; India’s role is limited and largely dependent on Chinese firms.
• Apple’s dependence on China is no longer about cost—it’s about capabilities Apple helped build there.
October 27, 2025
An absolutely foundational and pivotal book. Not just for those who care about China - anyone who wants to dig into the past *and* future of American industrialization or tech NEEDS to read this.
October 29, 2025
An insightful and engaging book about a big part of the story behind China’s modern manufacturing dominance. Despite working in technology and reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, there was still a lot in here that was new to me, or took something I knew about at a surface level and went much deeper.
The best part about this book is how it combines compelling writing with rigorous investigative journalism to posit a notable idea: that Apple was the specific catalyst for Chinese manufacturing dominance. The fact that this idea has deep and long-lasting resonance for the coming decades makes the book all the more impactful and important.
The writing and approach reminded me of Patrick Radden Keefe. So if you like Empire of Pain or Say Nothing, and are curious about the topic, definitely check this one out!
The best part about this book is how it combines compelling writing with rigorous investigative journalism to posit a notable idea: that Apple was the specific catalyst for Chinese manufacturing dominance. The fact that this idea has deep and long-lasting resonance for the coming decades makes the book all the more impactful and important.
The writing and approach reminded me of Patrick Radden Keefe. So if you like Empire of Pain or Say Nothing, and are curious about the topic, definitely check this one out!
May 22, 2025
I have always enjoyed Apple from the perspective of a consumer and assumed the company was going up and down for localized reasons. This title shows how a worldwide battle has been underway for decades. This book also expresses how apple manufacturing will never make it in America. It requires a downtrodden oppressable culture to make it's stuff and keep them grinding on the hamster wheels until death. The company excels at using mankind as machines and this book clearly expresses that.
China is both nothing and everything. We exploited a downtrodden nation with capitalism and enabled the leadership in a way that ensures they will enjoy world domination. There are so many interesting tidbits to discuss with friends and also 1000 reasons to go get a Mate Fold. Our demand is so unreal that this problem feeds itself. We have the greed to need so many iPhone that super factories have to be made. Perhaps we don't need that new phone every year. But then again we don't know the pain that went into it, so we can just enjoy the sleek packaging.
The implications of having one of our most profitable companies in the hands of the CCP does not bode well for our future as a nation. It makes me wonder how Trump and Cook talked in private.
China is both nothing and everything. We exploited a downtrodden nation with capitalism and enabled the leadership in a way that ensures they will enjoy world domination. There are so many interesting tidbits to discuss with friends and also 1000 reasons to go get a Mate Fold. Our demand is so unreal that this problem feeds itself. We have the greed to need so many iPhone that super factories have to be made. Perhaps we don't need that new phone every year. But then again we don't know the pain that went into it, so we can just enjoy the sleek packaging.
The implications of having one of our most profitable companies in the hands of the CCP does not bode well for our future as a nation. It makes me wonder how Trump and Cook talked in private.
July 19, 2025
In light of everything that happened this year in the US after Trump came to power again and declared war on global trade, if there’s only one business book that you can read this year, make it this one. No matter where you stand in regards to Trumps trade policies, this book will likely share some - in one way or another - uncomfortable insights into what exactly has accelerated Chinas technological ascend in the last 20-30 years.
Highly recommended
Highly recommended
May 22, 2025
Breakthrough Book On Apple: The Untold Story
As an early employee, I can personally attest to the urgency and drive that promotes success at Apple. It is a crazy environment with many highs and lows. I always knew there was a hidden side (particularly in the last ten to fifteen years) because management coments did not fully make sense. This book captures my experience of keeping the truth at arms length. To avoid critique, Apple invented its own story and became possessed by it. It also point out that ‘smart-ness’ only takes you so far, because we need wisdom to persevere.
As an early employee, I can personally attest to the urgency and drive that promotes success at Apple. It is a crazy environment with many highs and lows. I always knew there was a hidden side (particularly in the last ten to fifteen years) because management coments did not fully make sense. This book captures my experience of keeping the truth at arms length. To avoid critique, Apple invented its own story and became possessed by it. It also point out that ‘smart-ness’ only takes you so far, because we need wisdom to persevere.
August 27, 2025
Patrick McGee’s “Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company” is a fascinating and deeply revealing examination of how Apple’s pursuit of efficiency, scale, and profit drew the world’s most valuable company into a web of dependency on China—a relationship that now cuts both ways. With incisive investigative rigor, McGee traces Apple’s transformation from Steve Jobs’s rebellious California start-up through the Tim Cook era, illuminating how the company systematically shifted its manufacturing base to China, lured by low costs, lax regulations, and a boundless labor pool. What makes McGee’s book essential reading for anyone interested in global business or geopolitics is its dual-lens approach. Not only does he dissect Apple’s increasing vulnerability to Beijing’s political power—laying out how the company routinely had to compromise on privacy, labor, and free expression to stay in the good graces of Chinese authorities—but he also uncovers the profound impact Apple had on China itself. The book’s most original insights explore how Apple served as a kind of global business school for a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs, engineers, and industrialists, many of whom would later help launch Apple rivals and develop China’s own technological base. McGee paints vivid scenes of Apple engineers encountering grim factory conditions and recounts how the company’s supply chain discipline and technology transfer turbocharged not just Apple’s meteoric rise—from millions in profit in the early 2000s to tens of billions a decade later—but also China’s own technological prowess. He makes the compelling argument that Apple’s gamble was a geopolitical event on par with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, irrevocably binding American innovation to Chinese ambition. Ultimately, “Apple in China” stands out as both a cautionary tale and a masterclass in investigative journalism: a riveting, nuanced portrait of how the quest for global dominance can leave even the most powerful companies captive to forces beyond their control. It is an essential, unsettling read for understanding 21st-century capitalism’s most consequential partnership.
June 13, 2025
This is fascinating and terrifying. Apple has trained more engineers in China than the US and Europe combined. This is a thorough history of Apples’s unparalleled success as a result of offshoring its manufacturing. I wished the author would have addressed the national security issues as a result of developing China’s high tech sector.
June 16, 2025
Actually a 3.5 stars. Business book with a glimpse into Apple but even more a lesson in China manufacturing and the way a state-driven government works. Fascinating. (Felt about 50 pages too long which is why the 3-star vs 4).
July 19, 2025
Very interesting and there was a lot I just was completely unaware of. I think its a must read to see how we've gotten to where we are today in regards to supply chain and reliance on China for manufacturing.
June 22, 2025
This book is a journalistic account of how Apple, from the time of Steve Jobs’ return until the present, came to be thoroughly immeshed in China. In the 1990s, Apple was failing but was known as one of the last remaining vertically integrated computer firms. Now, while the design decisions for Apple products are largely made in Cuppertino, CA, the firm has located nearly all of its manufacturing for its most profitable products (iPhones) in China. The book fills in gaps between the initial history of Apple in the Jobs years and the current positioning of the firm as one of the most valuable corporations and a global manufacturer.
The principal value of the book to me was to provide as clear an answer as possible to the question of whether the manufacturing of iPhones could be returned to the US to avoid tariff burdens. While the return of manufacturing to America is one of the stated aims of the Trump tariff initiatives, Patrick McGee’s book provides a definitive answer - it is absolutely unthinkable that manufacturing for the iPhone will ever return to the US. Some of the reasons are general and relate to wage differentials between China and the US and the lack of interest in the US for the return of such manufacturing. (Surprisingly, the US still manufactures a lot in country - just not anywhere close to some aspirations of tariff advocates.)
More important than general conditions, McGee shows how Apple coordinated a vast array of investment decisions in China to add huge additional value over what individual decisions would bring. Then there is the Apple culture. The firm is apparently so perfectionist in training suppliers that it managed to transfer huge amounts of knowledge-how to contractors, far in excess of what the contractors would earn directly working with Apple. Finally, the bolstering of the Chinese government made it necessary for Apple to become “captured” in the pursuit of Chinese interests and policies and programs, even when in conflict with US policies and programs.
Who knows what the future will bring? However, Apple is deeply committed to and indeed stuck in its relationship with China and that is likely to continue despite the ups and downs of tariff policies.
The principal value of the book to me was to provide as clear an answer as possible to the question of whether the manufacturing of iPhones could be returned to the US to avoid tariff burdens. While the return of manufacturing to America is one of the stated aims of the Trump tariff initiatives, Patrick McGee’s book provides a definitive answer - it is absolutely unthinkable that manufacturing for the iPhone will ever return to the US. Some of the reasons are general and relate to wage differentials between China and the US and the lack of interest in the US for the return of such manufacturing. (Surprisingly, the US still manufactures a lot in country - just not anywhere close to some aspirations of tariff advocates.)
More important than general conditions, McGee shows how Apple coordinated a vast array of investment decisions in China to add huge additional value over what individual decisions would bring. Then there is the Apple culture. The firm is apparently so perfectionist in training suppliers that it managed to transfer huge amounts of knowledge-how to contractors, far in excess of what the contractors would earn directly working with Apple. Finally, the bolstering of the Chinese government made it necessary for Apple to become “captured” in the pursuit of Chinese interests and policies and programs, even when in conflict with US policies and programs.
Who knows what the future will bring? However, Apple is deeply committed to and indeed stuck in its relationship with China and that is likely to continue despite the ups and downs of tariff policies.
July 17, 2025
Apple in China by Patrick McGee
Summary: Most of us know that Apple manufactures some of its products in China, but Patrick McGee's book makes it clear that the ties run much deeper. Apple is not just present in China, it is fully entangled within its manufacturing ecosystem. The pages cover how Apple’s growth into one of the most profitable companies in history is directly tied to its operations there.
Apple in China explores how the company shifted toward a design-first mindset (see Jony Ive), which introduced new complexities for mass production. To solve this, instead of a typical location-variety supply chain, Apple committed heavily to China. It took advantage of low labor costs, extreme working conditions, and the large population. The result was explosive growth, 69 million in profit in 2003 to 41.7 billion in 2012.
But, China gained from this relationship as well. Apple transferred tacit knowledge that is hard to put a price tag on and arguably provided more value than a traditional joint venture. This contributed to the growth of China’s own electronics sector, with companies like Huawei mimicking Apple’s design and marketing strategies., playing a key part in China's impressive economic growth.
McGee leaves the reader with a question. If political tensions rise or if Apple falls out of favor with the Chinese government, would that pose a greater threat to the company’s future than any poorly received product launch? But can Apple even decouple at this point?
If you enjoyed Chris Miller's Chip War, this would be good to check out, it has a very similar approach and flow.
Summary: Most of us know that Apple manufactures some of its products in China, but Patrick McGee's book makes it clear that the ties run much deeper. Apple is not just present in China, it is fully entangled within its manufacturing ecosystem. The pages cover how Apple’s growth into one of the most profitable companies in history is directly tied to its operations there.
Apple in China explores how the company shifted toward a design-first mindset (see Jony Ive), which introduced new complexities for mass production. To solve this, instead of a typical location-variety supply chain, Apple committed heavily to China. It took advantage of low labor costs, extreme working conditions, and the large population. The result was explosive growth, 69 million in profit in 2003 to 41.7 billion in 2012.
But, China gained from this relationship as well. Apple transferred tacit knowledge that is hard to put a price tag on and arguably provided more value than a traditional joint venture. This contributed to the growth of China’s own electronics sector, with companies like Huawei mimicking Apple’s design and marketing strategies., playing a key part in China's impressive economic growth.
McGee leaves the reader with a question. If political tensions rise or if Apple falls out of favor with the Chinese government, would that pose a greater threat to the company’s future than any poorly received product launch? But can Apple even decouple at this point?
If you enjoyed Chris Miller's Chip War, this would be good to check out, it has a very similar approach and flow.
August 10, 2025
As someone who has worked in tech in China, this was a fascinating read. As an engineer, it was interesting hearing the backgrounds and experiences of the “best” of Apple. The skills that were valued and how those skills, most likely in hindsight, led them to success was unexpected. Even when basically describing these people as sociopaths, there was still a lot of grace given as well. I was greatly interested in the role of women where in the 90s and early 2000s they were only mentioned collectively as“the wives” and how they started to get profiles as the VPs. Viewing China’s development through Apple’s lens was also gave me a different perspective on the country’s growth. The pandemic and launch of Huawei really stood out to me.
Finally, the role of Trump and Xi in Apple’s success really helps to make sense of a lot of the political moves we are witnessing right now. Most of it, I believe, many of us already assumed, but it was nice to see the data behind it. I put this book on hold a few months ago after my dad recommended it to me and it feels like it came to me at the best time.
All in all, I’d recommend it for those interested in the subject. I’m not a huge nonfiction fan so this felt like reading a textbook at times, but I give credit to McGee’s anecdotal writing style for keeping me interested.
Finally, the role of Trump and Xi in Apple’s success really helps to make sense of a lot of the political moves we are witnessing right now. Most of it, I believe, many of us already assumed, but it was nice to see the data behind it. I put this book on hold a few months ago after my dad recommended it to me and it feels like it came to me at the best time.
All in all, I’d recommend it for those interested in the subject. I’m not a huge nonfiction fan so this felt like reading a textbook at times, but I give credit to McGee’s anecdotal writing style for keeping me interested.
August 27, 2025
Ši knyga ne tiek apie Apple, kiek apie Kiniją ir jų abiejų simbiozę. Su gudria paskatų sistema, gebėjimu mokytis ir plagijuoti, šalis Apple sukūrė tokią terpę iš kurios lengvai neišeisi. Korporacija Kinijoje sukūrusi kartais daugiau darbo vietų negu JAV, R&D sprendimai taip pat vyksta ten. Geras klausimas knygos pabaigoje apie įmonių socialinę atsakomybę, kai vertė akcininkams nustelbia vertę, kuri turėtų būti kuriama visuomenei
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