i wonder what kind of security is used for the shipment of next-gen iPhone CPUs from TSMC to Foxconn's assembly locations. like, do they just put it in an ordinary container and ship it over like anything else? if it gets lost or stolen that's like a few billion bucks lost, they can't possibly do it that way.
@sneak I met a Tokyo-based US expat who was an employee of the US government before starting his own thing. Pretty common, I think.
@sneak but maybe not? apparently there's plenty of firearms familiarity in Taiwan. https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Taiwan_(Right_to_Bear_Arms)
@alrs it still has to go on a boat and across china
@sneak Yep. On the boat I assume you'd have the same security people you had in Taiwan with their "Veteran" class firearms licenses. There's no shortage of armed security within China.
@sneak at that level of $$ you're talking national interest, expecting CCP to provide security is a reasonable request.
@sneak though I don't know how you'd fence stolen Apple silicon, unless you were a nation state that could fabricate supporting hardware and build a clandestine undisclosed distributed supercomputer, or something. Seems pretty far-fetched.
@sneak I guess you could hold it for ransom? The expense is in design and manufacturing process, so Apple could always stamp out more.
@lickthecheese North Korea is China's client state, if they tried some crazy shit they would instantly lose their food supply.
@sneak my off-the-cuff guess would be ex-US military security contractors who were stationed in Asia and wanted to keep working there after retirement.