wizdum:
Actually, due to all the regulation here, the difference is more than a few dollars. If an iPad 2 were made in America, it would cost $1,144.02 USD, instead of $400 USD.
Do you have a source for that quote? The only reason I ask is that I work in the manufacturing sector. True, a lot of appliances and so on have wandered offshore for a variety of reasons but I see no good reason why Apple could not replicate the same assembly lines it had in the US to make its computers way back when.
Consider this: On a typical US appliance, US labor, depreciation, regulations, etc. typically make up less than 15-20% of the COGS. That's my experience based on hundreds of teardowns, across a wide swath of appliances. I've visited many US manufacturers competing successfully with Chinese-made goods, even in commodity markets. It can be done. But the big temptation is to 'throw the problem over the wall', design the thing, market it, etc. but let someone else deal with making it. Fewer headaches, fewer on-book assets, etc. I get it, but certainly not a 'must'. And Apple has the scale to make any hard tooling worthwhile, if they wanted to.
Plus, a big danger IMO is no longer being at the cutting edge of what's possible - and hence losing sight of innovations in manufacturing, design and so on, because someone else is doing that for you. Once you lose sight of what things 'should' cost, the probability of negotiating with a reasonable chance of getting a good deal diminishes accordingly. Apple has done a remarkable job of bringing in outside experts, acquiring the companies, etc. to help them overcome these issues, and one can also argue the other side, i.e. it's easier to abandon old manufacturing techniques, etc. when one does not own assets that are going to turn into sunk costs.
The regulation boogeyman is trotted out repeatedly when it comes to explaining why manufacturing of electronics has moved to Asia. However, I believe the real answer is that the workers over there tolerate working conditions that are not acceptable in the US. Allowed, but not acceptable. Hiring and firing of vast numbers over 'here' is simply not as possible / easy /etc. as it is over 'there'. The US government also does not subsidize to the same extent as local, state, and federal agencies do in China, for example.
The other issue is that the sources for all the chips, components, etc. have moved over there long ago. So, the US no longer features a local infrastructure for many of the parts inside an iPad, just as the shoe industry, for example. That in itself makes local manufacturing (or assembly) more difficult because shipping the components separately from China vs. a single finished assembly is fraught with supply-chain issues. Plus, iPads and so on are so dense in terms of value vs. volume that air-shipping the stuff is the preferred method. Plus, it helps that the Chinese are willing to work for 1/10th the wages of a typical US worker.
The US could adopt some of the protectionist policies like Brazil and force local assembly of phones, iPads, etc. but ultimately, if you look at what the Chinese gain from the sale of an iPad vs. the profit that Apple reaps in selling them, I'd wager that Apple and it's shareholders is getting a pretty darn good deal. As supply chains consolidate and the Foxconns of the world attempt to reap higher margins, you may see manufacturing returning to companies like Apple. The companies that I see succeeding best producing in high-cost labor markets the world over are the ones that mass-customize locally to suit the tastes of the end-consumer.