Apple in China
by Patrick McGee · first published 2025
42mentions
15recommended by
38HN commenters
2025–2026first – last mentioned
39% recommend58% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Detailed account of how Apple's supply chain shaped China's manufacturing rise and left the company dependent on it. Suits readers wanting insight into Chinese industry, Tim Cook's strategy, and Apple's risks.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…black swan event, Apple is close to toast. They get 70-80% of revenue from hardware and could end up with no hardware to sell. Every device they have cannot work without TSMC. A great book on this btw is Apple in China by Patrick McGee.
on “Intel CEO Letter to Employees” ↗…just Samsung alone either -- Apple was the next major foreign smartphone seller in China. Apple avoided Samsung's fate after Xi's rise in 2013 and Patrick McGee, a FT reporter, has recently released Apple in China: the Capture of the World's Greatest Company, meticulously detailing how Apple countered Xi's "For China, In China," but, by doubling down on China, Apple is in effect "captured" by Xi. see Chapter 26…
on “Apple to beat Samsung in smartphone shipments for first time in 14 years” ↗I would earnestly suggest reading Apple In China: https://www.amazon.com/Apple-China-Capture-Greatest-Company/... It both captures Tim's genius and the genius of the person much geniuser than him: Xi Jinping.
on “Tim Cook's Impeccable Timing” ↗…prosperity and lifted Not because of the West giving China its industry, because - greed and China's blatant IP theft? Who cares if the communists make everything we consume, right? Stock price, yo. "Apple in China" by Patrick McGee is a good read. I like Chinese food, the arts, the folklore, they make my favorite bows (archery), but I don't want my grandkids have to learn Mandarin unless they want to. Tangent,…
on “BYD overtakes Tesla and Kia as the best-selling EV brand in key overseas markets” ↗…year/summer/etc. But these are not what I'm after. My reading habits are a bit out of sync with the mainstream and rarely feature in lists of most popular books. (If it helps, some of my favorites include Apple in China, The Chip War, Spec Ops [by McRaven], and Chokepoints.) I thought Goodreads would be the place to find stuff like that but was shockingly lacking. How do you guys find (good) books to read?
on “Ask HN: How do you find new books to read?” ↗Read the “Apple in China” book.
on “Tim Cook's Impeccable Timing” ↗Great post - I recommend reading "Apple in China" to get a great insight into the how the Chinese manufacturing industry (and economy) has developed over the last 30 years.
The book “Apple in China” delivers an amazingly detailed description of both, with jaw-dropping anecdotes.
on “iFixit iPhone Air teardown” ↗Check out the book “Apple in China”. Most of these Chinese competitors exist because they learned how to make phones by learning from Apple directly.
on “FCC Accidentally Leaked iPhone Schematics” ↗…marking/measuring etc for woodworking, then others copy them. Oldest story in capitalism. The manufacturing improvements in this process are non-stop. For some really good examples in consumer electronics, read "Apple in China" to see how China transformed into a power house in a relatively short amount of time.
on “America is getting an AI gold rush instead of a factory boom” ↗There's an amazing book on Apple in China all about this issue (and more). It's a great read and I'd highly recommend if you're interested. Also Chip Wars is really good. I may be confusing which one is which because I read them back to back,…
on “Apple reports fourth quarter results” ↗Cook’s greatest achievement - Apple’s supply chain - has, as set out in the ‘Apple in China’ book [1], turned into Apple’s biggest risk and weakness. The next CEO won’t be worrying about Siri or Vision Pro; they’ll be trying to deal with Apple’s reliance on China. [1] https://open.substack.com/pub/thechipletter/p/apple-in-china
on “Report: Tim Cook could step down as Apple CEO 'as soon as next year'” ↗…"When We Where Real". - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_(novel) - https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/When-We-Were-Real/Dar... On the nonfiction side, I can recommend "Careless People" and "Apple in China". - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careless_People - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_in_China
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗"Apple in China" was pretty good! I can second that one. If you haven't checked it out, "Chip War" is also pretty good and along the same style. I'm reading it right now.
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗For those who don't like my comment I'd implore you to read [0]. [0] https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Apple-in-China/Patric...
on “DeepSeek to Make Permanent 75% Discount on Flagship AI Model” ↗