Where is the value?
If you take an iPhone, you can read on the back: "Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China".
So is the value in the design or in the manufacturing?
Here is the value
At Cupertino in California, the place where the iPhone is designed, 13.000 employees are worth more than $500 Billion (according to current stock valuations). In China and in the rest of the world, hundreds of thousands of people work in operations that is worth less than $40 Billion.
So 90% of the value is found in the Cortex in the United States.
The Italian Problem
In Italy there are excellent manufacturing capabilities, however the Cortex is usually ridiculous. This is why we are competing against low operation costs: China, Romania, Poland, Serbia, etc...
Here is the magic!
A strong Cortex will bring back "value added" operation.