by Jason Snell
The brutal world of the supply chain
Some interesting insight from Charles Arthur into Apple’s relationships with its supply-chain contractors, with the GT Advanced Technologies debacle as an example.
The reality is that Apple, as the most valuable company on Earth by market capitalisation, now has the power to make or break a company through its supplier relationships… Being known as a supplier to it has definite value, one company – which is listed in Apple’s top 200 list – told the Guardian: “The value lies in the fact that Apple is recognised as having a high-quality build spec, so a relationship reflects well on that supplier’s products,” an executive said.
It’s not just Apple, either—Arthur’s sources point out that this is common not just among phone manufacturers but across most industries.