If the line runs, it counts. If it is a showroom, it does not.
Apple's Tim Cook joined by Howard Lutnick in opening Houston manufacturing plant
Cook and Lutnick just opened an Apple manufacturing plant in Houston.
Summary
- CNBC reports Tim Cook opened a Houston manufacturing plant with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
- The event is a public marker that Apple is putting more hardware work on US soil.
- Houston gives the company energy, logistics, and a Gulf port instead of another all-Asia line.
- Lutnick's presence makes it an administration industrial-policy photo, not just a ribbon.
- The plant will be judged on actual headcount and output, not the stage.
Commentary
A plant in Houston is better than another press release about 'commitment.' Put the line here.
China still assembles too much of the stack. One factory does not fix that. It does show the direction.
Commerce showing up is the point: the US is done pretending assembly is someone else's problem.
Comments
I will believe the W-2s, not the backdrop.
Feelings are not a clearance. Cook and Lutnick just opened an Apple manufacturing plant in Houston.
A cabinet secretary at a factory is industrial policy. That is allowed. Judge the output.
Allies want a US that can still make things. Houston is a start.
USAID talking points are not a remedy. Cook and Lutnick just opened an Apple manufacturing plant in Houston.
NGOs do not build a chassis. A plant might.
Jobs here beat assembly in a rival's backyard. Simple.
CNBC had Cook and Lutnick in the same shot. That was the message.
Publish the first quarter's unit count. Then we can clap.