Urgent need for self-branded products

Many economists, analysts and commentators in China have dismissed the so-called insourcing by Apple and some other multinational companies as nothing but isolated cases that pose no real and immediate threat to China's industrial might.

They contend that even allowing for further increases in workers' wages and an uptake in inflation, the cost of manufacturing in China will remain significantly lower than the cost of manufacturing in developed countries. For that reason, they believe that any talk about the demise of globalization is premature.

Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive officer, is known as an expert in outsourcing. Cook joined Apple in 1998, as senior vice-president for worldwide operations, and he is credited with closing all Apple's factories and establishing an efficient supply chain by globally outsourcing the manufacturing of the company's products. However, he now deems that it makes economic sense to have some of the company's products manufactured in the United States. People should take note.