With the launch of Motorola Mobility’s new Moto X, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) becomes the first tech company to be able to stamp “Made in the U.S.A.” on a smartphone. While it’s not the first tech product to have its manufacturing “onshored,” it is the first smartphone and with that comes some benefits for consumers, such as being able to order and receive custom designs within days.
Yet a new review by the market researchers at IHS Inc. (NYSE:IHS) found that the Moto X has a bill of materials that are comparably priced with foreign-sourced smartphones that could herald a return of tech manufacturing jobs to American shores.
In its report, IHS says that after tearing down the Moto X, the preliminary total BOM is just $214, which combined with $12 in manufacturing costs, gives the smartphone a total cost to produce of $226, smack in the middle between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5 at $207 and Samsung’s Galaxy S4 at $237.
To keep its price low, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) apparently hasn’t blazed many trails in design or hardware, but functionality remains comparable with foreign-sourced rivals and use of popular, readily available components like chipsets from QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), which are currently in high production, means costs are kept to a minimum.
IHS goes on to say that with a retail price between $540 and $580 and carrier subsidies around $300, the Moto X is on the prowl for grabbing attention with wireless carriers who typically subsidize Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung to the tune of $400 per smartphone.
The news reflects something of a trend among tech companies to repatriate jobs to America. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced last year that it would be producing some Macs in the U.S. and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s own failed Nexus Q was made here. Even Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Limited (ADR) (OTCMKTS:LNVGY) has said it will begin producing ThinkPads in the Land of the Free.
While the “Made in the U.S.A.” label gives manufacturers some marketing heft to their products, the real reason for this sudden shift in focus could be that China is no longer the attractive economy it once was. Based on its success in recent years — it surpassed the U.S. in 2010 as the world’s largest manufacturing muscleman — wages are rapidly rising, up 14% in 2012 and another 10% so far this year. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s assembler in China, Foxconn, hiked wages anywhere from 16% to 25% in April.
Nor are these higher costs endemic just to the tech sector. As far back as 2010, handbag maker Coach, Inc. (NYSE:COH) began looking to Vietnam and India as home for its manufacturing to reduce costs, and others are combing Malaysia, Thailand, and elsewhere for cheap ports of call. Though its robust infrastructure that supports its larger labor pool has set China apart from its neighbors, in time that will level out and put its rivals on a more equal footing.
Still manufacturing jobs are being relocated to the U.S. In recent years General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) have made such shifts, and French airplane maker Airbus opened a plant in Alabama last year. The depressed economy here and its sluggish recovery has made the U.S. more attractive to manufacturers as median household income has continued to fall since the recession supposedly ended.
In short, though, the success of the Moto X won’t stand on whether it was made in Texas or China (as the Nexus Q attests), but whether the technology resonates with consumers. It’s up to consumers now whether they’ll respond to the smartphone’s features, but at least Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) can say it’s got the cost side of the equation down. And that’s something worth hanging the bunting for and waving the flag over.
The article Google Gets Patriotic originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Rich Duprey owns shares of General Electric. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Apple, Coach, and Google. It owns shares of General Electric and Qualcomm.
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