Actually, the manufacturing process is nothing that's unique to Apple or China. Apple is assembling iPhones in Brazil at the moment in addition to China. And as long as they don't stop innovating in their production processes (like the injection molding innovations of the iPod and the unibody innovations of the MacBooks and iPads) their lead is not going to erode there.
However, Apples biggest advantage is the enormous cash reserve they have, which enables them to get extremely good deals on essential parts such as flash memory and displays. This has nothing to do with where the devices are manufactured. Even when selling plastic tablets, other companies have a hard time matching the price of iPads (and now MacBook Airs).
However, Apples biggest advantage is the enormous cash reserve they have, which enables them to get extremely good deals on essential parts such as flash memory and displays. This has nothing to do with where the devices are manufactured. Even when selling plastic tablets, other companies have a hard time matching the price of iPads (and now MacBook Airs).