Apple Loses 100,000+ iPhone Customers!

In case you missed it, Apple's Chinese manufacturer of the iPhone, Foxconn, fired 60,000 workers and replaced them with robots. 

https://mishtalk.com/2016/05/26/we-need-new-labels-i-propose-100-robot-made/

Now if you figure that these workers and their families are all potential iPhone customers, or likely already have them and would be customers when it comes to replacing them, and that after being fired for robots they cannot afford such luxuries, then you can easily get to 100,000+ fewer iPhone customers.  Now they might secure other jobs, but as Mish points out in the linked article, these workers are in a city in China where thousands of other manufacturers are automating.  Moreover, companies are leaving China altogether as you do not need cheap labor if you do not need any labor, so automated factories are more efficient if they are built near the customers, like in Europe or the U.S.

For example, Adidas and other shoe manufacturers are gradually eliminating millions of shoe making jobs by building automated factories in Europe and elsewhere,.  So all those Adidas workers replaced by robots cannot afford iPhones and the 60,000 workers who made iPhones ain't going to be walking around in new sneakers either.

You see the problem here is that old supply and demand thingy is tied to those on the demand side of the equation having money.  The Central Banks around the world are kicking butt trying to get folks to spend money, which increases demand, which leads to more supply, which leads to more profits and which USED TO lead to more jobs, which leads to paychecks, which leads to more demand.  You take the more jobs aspect out of the equation and there is no money around to lead to more demand.  Indeed, you are stripping jobs and demand and taking the process in the opposite direction.  The whole capitalistic structure is shooting itself in the foot.  But hey, let the other companies hire people as we need to automate to enhance profits so that the 1% can be even richer. 

You tell me, how many iPhones and sneakers does that 1% need?

Obviously we cannot and will not stop progress in automation.  The challenge has been and will continue to be finding jobs for the millions that are and will be losing their jobs to machines.  For the U.S. it started as losing jobs to cheaper labor overseas, which is still an issue, but it is morphing into a global issue of losing jobs to machines.  We are getting more and more into a world where we do not need nearly as many people to supply the needs of the people.  This will be an ever increasing challenge for our "leaders," if you want to call them that.