Why Apple was spending $35 million every year flying engineers to China

Apple spent $35 million annually on flying engineers to China before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a 2019 United Airlines promotional banner. The company sent hundreds of US engineers each month to collaborate with contract manufacturers in China, which built most of its products. These engineers included process engineers, designers, operations managers, and reliability engineers who worked on-site to ramp up production of Apple devices.

After COVID-19, Apple significantly reduced the number of engineers sent to China due to strict border controls. Most US-based Apple engineers were confined to their homes, and the company increasingly relied on engineers in China for production oversight. Apple also adopted technology such as video calls, iPads, and augmented-reality tools for remote collaboration between teams in Cupertino and China.

In 2019, United Airlines was Apple's largest corporate account, with Apple spending around $150 million annually with the airline. Apple's manufacturing network in China employed around 1.4 million people, primarily through partnerships with companies like Foxconn. The company's manufacturing base expanded in India, where it produced about 55 million iPhones in 2025, accounting for about a quarter of its global iPhone production. This shift was driven by tariffs, trade tensions, and the desire to diversify the supply chain.