蘋果爲什麼在中國聘請更多工程師

Apple's move to transfer some production back to the U.S. has been in the headlines, but that doesn't mean the iPhone maker is scaling down its China operations. In fact, it's still expanding.

蘋果公司(Apple Inc.)將部分生產線轉回美國本土一直是媒體廣爲報道的話題，但這並不意味着這家公司準備削減中國業務的規模，實際上，蘋果依然在拓展中國市場。

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Apple is poaching engineers from rival smartphone maker HTC and other Taiwanese tech firms, to build up its teams in Shanghai and Taipei.

《華爾街日報》週一報道稱，蘋果正從競爭對手宏達國際電子股份有限公司(HTC Co. 簡稱：宏達國際)和其他臺灣科技公司挖工程師，來擴大自己在上海和臺北的團隊。

The move is a reminder of the realities of globalization and the current limitations of factory automation. Industry executives and analysts agree that costs for robotic arms have to come down quite a bit before it would be cost-efficient to switch en masse to automated assembly lines for devices like smartphones and tablets. Until that happens, building an iPhone remains a labor-heavy process that is likely to stay in countries with cheaper labor such as China.

蘋果此舉提醒人們注意到有關全球化的現實以及目前工廠自動化所面臨的侷限性等問題。行業高管和分析師都認爲，對智能手機和平板電腦等設備來說，只有將機械臂的成本大大降低，再進行裝配線全面自動化才能產生成本效益。在實現這一點之前，生產iPhone依然是一個非常需要人力的過程，因此生產線可能會留在中國等勞動力成本較爲低廉的國家。

'Automation has its limitations,' said Arthur Hsieh, lead analyst for UBS Asia technology hardware. 'A product has to have a long life cycle to be suitable. And if demand is very volatile, then manual production makes more sense.'

瑞銀(UBS)亞洲科技行業分析師謝宗文(Arthur Hsieh)稱，自動化有其侷限性，具有較長生命週期的產品才適合生產自動化，而且如果需求波動很大的話，人工生產線更合適。

Apple's Mac Pro computers were a prime candidate for automation, with their long life cycles and relatively stable demand, which meant the same production line could be used for a long time without requiring an overhaul. The company brought some Mac Pro production lines back to the U.S. this year following political pressure to reduce reliance on China-based contract manufacturers who have come under fire for labor practices.

蘋果生產的Mac Pro電腦是最適合生產自動化的一個產品，該產品的生命週期長，需求相對穩定，這意味着一條生產線可以使用很長時間而無需全面更新。蘋果今年將Mac Pro的部分生產線轉回了美國本土，主要原因是受到政治方面的壓力，要求該公司降低其對位於中國的代工製造商的依賴，這些製造商屢屢因勞工實踐的問題受到批評。

But the bulk of Apple's products can't be adapted to automated assembly lines quite so easily. All of Apple's iPhones and iPads are still assembled in China, and are not likely to move out in the near-term, analysts say.

然而蘋果大部分產品沒有那麼容易就可以適應自動化的裝配線。分析師稱，所有iPhone和iPad依然是在中國組裝的，這些裝配線短期內不會離開中國。

Which brings us to engineers. Apple's close cooperation with suppliers to develop new products means that it is wedded to its supply chain in China. It needs engineers and managers on the ground to continuously monitor developments at its component suppliers and manufacturers. And as it plans a wider array of products, it needs more engineers in China than ever before and has been aggressively trying to hire them in Shanghai and Taipei.

這時就需要工程師上場了。蘋果和供應商之間就開發新產品所開展的密切合作意味着該公司是和中國的供應鏈綁在一起的。蘋果需要在中國聘請工程師和管理人員持續監控配件供應商和製造商的工作情況。此外，該公司還計劃擴大產品範圍，因此比任何時候都更需要在中國聘用更多工程師，上海和臺北的招聘人數尤爲多。

That's why manufacturing jobs aren't the only ones that may be difficult to move back to the U.S.

這就是爲什麼製造業的崗位不是唯一難以轉回到美國本土的崗位的原因。