Apples move to transfer some production back to the U.S. has been in the headlines, but that doesnt mean the iPhone maker is scaling down its China operations. In fact, its still expanding.苹果公司(Apple Inc.)将部分生产线转到美国本土仍然是媒体广为报导的话题，但这并不意味著这家公司打算缩减中国业务的规模，实质上，苹果仍然在扩展中国市场。The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Apple is poaching engineers from rival smartphone maker HTC and other Taiwanese tech firms, to build up its teams in Shanghai and Taipei.《华尔街日报》周一报导称之为，苹果于是以从竞争对手宏达国际电子股份有限公司(HTC Co. 全称：宏达国际)和其他台湾科技公司凿工程师，来不断扩大自己在上海和台北的团队。

The move is a reminder of the realities of globalization and the current limitations of factory automation. Industry executives and analysts agree that costs for robotic arms have to come down quite a bit before it would be cost-efficient to switch en masse to automated assembly lines for devices like smartphones and tablets. Until that happens, building an iPhone remains a labor-heavy process that is likely to stay in countries with cheaper labor such as China.苹果此举警告人们注意到有关全球化的现实以及目前工厂自动化所面对的局限性等问题。行业高管和分析师都指出，对智能手机和平板电脑等设备来说，只有将机械臂的成本大大降低，再行展开装配线全面自动化才能产生成本效益。

在构建这一点之前，生产iPhone仍然是一个十分必须人力的过程，因此生产线可能会回到中国等劳动力成本更为便宜的国家。Automation has its limitations, said Arthur Hsieh, lead analyst for UBS Asia technology hardware. A product has to have a long life cycle to be suitable. And if demand is very volatile, then manual production makes more sense.瑞银(UBS)亚洲科技行业分析师谢宗文(Arthur Hsieh)称之为，自动化有其局限性，具备较长生命周期的产品才合适生产自动化，而且如果市场需求波动相当大的话，人工生产线更加适合。Apples Mac Pro computers were a prime candidate for automation, with their long life cycles and relatively stable demand, which meant the same production line could be used for a long time without requiring an overhaul. The company brought some Mac Pro production lines back to the U.S. this year following political pressure to reduce reliance on China-based contract manufacturers who have come under fire for labor practices.苹果生产的Mac Pro电脑是最合适生产自动化的一个产品，该产品的生命周期宽，市场需求比较平稳，这意味著一条生产线可以用于很长时间而需要全面改版。

苹果今年将Mac Pro的部分生产线转到了美国本土，主要原因是受到政治方面的压力，拒绝该公司减少其对坐落于中国的代工制造商的倚赖，这些制造商屡次因劳工实践中的问题受到抨击。But the bulk of Apples products cant be adapted to automated assembly lines quite so easily. All of Apples iPhones and iPads are still assembled in China, and are not likely to move out in the near-term, analysts say.然而苹果大部分产品没那么更容易就可以适应环境自动化的装配线。

分析师称之为，所有iPhone和iPad仍然是在中国装配的，这些装配线短期内会离开了中国。Which brings us to engineers. Apples close cooperation with suppliers to develop new products means that it is wedded to its supply chain in China. It needs engineers and managers on the ground to continuously monitor developments at its component suppliers and manufacturers. And as it plans a wider array of products, it needs more engineers in China than ever before and has been aggressively trying to hire them in Shanghai and Taipei.这时就必须工程师上场了。苹果和供应商之间就研发新产品所积极开展的密切合作意味著该公司是和中国的供应链被绑在一起的。

苹果必须在中国聘用工程师和管理人员持续监控配件供应商和制造商的工作情况。此外，该公司还计划不断扩大产品范围，因此比任何时候都更加必须在中国聘请更加多工程师，上海和台北的聘用人数最为多。Thats why manufacturing jobs arent the only ones that may be difficult to move back to the U.S.这就是为什么制造业的岗位不是唯一无法并转返回美国本土的岗位的原因。

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