Any smartphones NOT made in China?

[gregulator]

I am just wondering what my options are for phones made in countries other than China? I am sure made in USA phones are out of the question (maybe some military phone), but maybe Japan? Taiwan? Other?

 

[runawayprisoner]

You can buy "Made in Japan" phones if you're willing to pay import fees.

But mind if I ask about your concern with "Made in China"?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I thought Samsung phones were made in Korea.
Either way you dice it, there are going to be parts in almost anything that are made in China.

 

[alent1234]

this a joke? foxconn makes almost everthing, including HP servers

 

[Dulanic]

It really is insane how much is made in China. I personally do what I can to avoid chinese products for the sake of our own country, but some things like electronics it is not avoidable at all.

 

[Oyeve]

I remember 20-30 years ago when consumers bitched about shit being made in Japan. Now we WISH stuff was made in Japan and not by some slave laborer in china making 2 bucks an hour.

 

[shortylickens]

Nokia E90?
:hmm:

 

[DivideBYZero]

BlackBerry are made all over; Canada, Mexico, Hungary, Malaysia, etc

 

[fbrdphreak]

Even if a smartphone is assembled in a country other than China, the vast majority of components will be made in China. Sorry, it is what it is at this point.

 

[gsaldivar]

I remember 20-30 years ago when consumers bitched about shit being made in Japan. Now we WISH stuff was made in Japan and not by some slave laborer in china making 2 bucks an hour.

Haha, I remember that. It's funny how things change with the times.

In 20 years people maybe we will bitch about all the cheap Indian/African imports and we'll be GLAD to find a Chinese-made product...

 

[akugami]

I remember 20-30 years ago when consumers bitched about shit being made in Japan. Now we WISH stuff was made in Japan and not by some slave laborer in china making 2 bucks an hour.

Young Doc: No wonder this circuit failed. It says "Made in Japan".
Marty: What do you mean, Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan.
Young Doc: Unbelievable.

 

[Patranus]

Apparently the new iPhone is being produced at Foxconn Brazil.

 

[Oyeve]

Haha, I remember that. It's funny how things change with the times.

In 20 years people maybe we will bitch about all the cheap Indian/African imports and we'll be GLAD to find a Chinese-made product...

I remember buying a "Made in Japan" Vantage Les Paul guitar in 1978 (Vantage was the company that made guitars for gibson in the 70s and early 80s) for $125 and thought wow, this cheapass guitar is really nice, too bad its made in japan. Well, I still have that guitar and it is now worth a few grand because it is actually a high quality guitar by todays standards.

I wonder if my Indonesian fender acoustic guitar will be worth something in 30 years when guitars will be made in the south pole.

 

[mammador]

Hmm.. blame companies for seeking lower input costs, and consumers for seeking low prices. lol... China's economy is built solely on the Western consumer, it's just as is in the modern world.

 

[elitejp]

I remember 20-30 years ago when consumers bitched about shit being made in Japan. Now we WISH stuff was made in Japan and not by some slave laborer in china making 2 bucks an hour.

I love these type of responses that always likes to spout out that evryone in China is poor and companies are paying slave wages.

In adressing the Op's concerns you need to realize that the products that are made and exported out of china for an foreign business are held to the same QC that would be found in that foriegn country. These types of companies are held to a very high standard while a local non foriegn owned business will not even be near the quality as the foreign owned one. The chinese themselves joke that they assemble all these great products but china itself does not get the pleasure of recieving any (since they will all be exported. Any products received will be classified as imported and taxed as such)
How do i know this? I live there

 

[Oyeve]

I love these type of responses that always likes to spout out that evryone in China is poor and companies are paying slave wages.

Are you saying they aren't?

 

[alent1234]

they are paying middle class wages for the area. the workers send the money back to their families who live fairly comfortably on it

i've seen pictures of the indian call center reps and they have enough money to dress better than 99% of the country

 

[elitejp]

Are you saying they aren't?

Alen was quite correct in his response. What I am saying is that you cant judge wages in another country by the wages in this country. Chinese kill to work for these foriegn owned business's because the salary and benefits far surpass any locally owned companies even though the wages would be lower than what you could earn in the USA

 

[gsaldivar]

you cant judge wages in another country by the wages in this country

I wish more people understood this simple, but profound concept.

 

[alent1234]

a lot of these people also live 3 generations or more under one roof. not like the US where you move 2000 miles from your parents and throw your kids into day care because there is no one else to take care of them

 

[Oyeve]

Alen was quite correct in his response. What I am saying is that you cant judge wages in another country by the wages in this country. Chinese kill to work for these foriegn owned business's because the salary and benefits far surpass any locally owned companies even though the wages would be lower than what you could earn in the USA

I totally understand. But even on those "equal for the climate" wages they cant afford to buy the products they make because it cost the same if not more than what we westerners pay. So, a $500 iphone here may cost the same there but that $500 is probably the average worker who made it monthly salary.

 

[elitejp]

Some can some cant. The chinese ive seen just about all have better cell phones than I do and the iphone sells very well over there. They do need to pay more money for electronics (based on avg income) but they pay cheaper for food. I can buy a lb of filet mignon for less than $3 a lb. Veggies and fruits are penny on the dollar cheap.So yes they do pay more for some things but they also pay less for others and when you are balancing the cost of living you need to take all things into consideration. The point is after living over there in a very rural area of china for more than 10 years I can say that the the overall population is doing quite well. Or I can say it this way, the vast majority of the chinese can afford the things that they want to buy. They arent sitting in a shack hungry with no clothes to wear or electricity. Another thing to consider is if they really were so poor and cant afford these high end products you really need to walk around china and just look at the amount of electronic stores that are doing very well by selling these high scale products.

 

[alent1234]

the last time i ate pork in front of an asian friend he told me about the growth steroids in the watermelons there and how they fed them to the pigs.

i usually try to avoid food from china

 

[Oyeve]

Some can some cant. The chinese ive seen just about all have better cell phones than I do and the iphone sells very well over there. They do need to pay more money for electronics (based on avg income) but they pay cheaper for food. I can buy a lb of filet mignon for less than $3 a lb. Veggies and fruits are penny on the dollar cheap.So yes they do pay more for some things but they also pay less for others and when you are balancing the cost of living you need to take all things into consideration. The point is after living over there in a very rural area of china for more than 10 years I can say that the the overall population is doing quite well. Or I can say it this way, the vast majority of the chinese can afford the things that they want to buy. They arent sitting in a shack hungry with no clothes to wear or electricity. Another thing to consider is if they really were so poor and cant afford these high end products you really need to walk around china and just look at the amount of electronic stores that are doing very well by selling these high scale products.

Wow, I am enlightened. Thanks! Never really saw it like that.

 

[elitejp]

the last time i ate pork in front of an asian friend he told me about the growth steroids in the watermelons there and how they fed them to the pigs.

i usually try to avoid food from china

i would too haha