Microsoft is a manufacturer of software, which even if made globally, is fairly easy to manage. The XBOX is a piece of hardware and it was a challenge for these guys. The Wall Street Journal has an article detailing how the global production is carried out for the XBOX 360.
- The core chip is made by IBM in the US
- The graphics chip is made by ATI in Taiwan
- The buttons of the console come from Lacrosse, Wisconsin
- Scores of small companies around the 2 main production plants in South CHina which make the capacitors, cooling fans etc.
- 25,000 workers work in 2 production plants in China to put all these together.
- The units get about 2 hours of manual testing
- Get shipped either through air freight or shipped to the US of A
Wow. Right out of a globalization text book. Read the full article here.