Why Apple is investing $100 million in U.S. manufacturing

"We do have a responsibility to create jobs," says CEO Tim Cook

Tim Cook
(Image credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

"Those jobs aren't coming back." That's what Steve Jobs said when President Obama asked him whether Apple would ever consider manufacturing its popular products in the U.S. But Jobs' successor, Tim Cook, has other ideas. In interviews with Bloomberg Businessweek and NBC News, Cook has revealed that in 2013, Apple will invest $100 million in manufacturing computers in the U.S. "I don't think we have a responsibility to create a certain kind of job," Cook told Bloomberg. "But I think we do have a responsibility to create jobs."

Cook didn't specify which product would be manufactured in the U.S., though it's been noted that the new iMac already bears the label "Assembled in the U.S.A.," making it a likely contender. Cook acknowledged that Apple won't literally make the products, but would continue its practice of hiring contractors to manufacture various elements. Cook also reminded his interviewers that some components — such as the iPhone's glass screen — are already being made in the U.S.

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Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.