Here's one of the problems with outsourcing your manufacturing widely - you really need to be careful about quality checks. Otherwise, you get things like the iPod virus fiasco:

The company said that a small number of video iPods made after Sept. 12 included the RavMonE virus. It said it has seen fewer than 25 reports of the problem, which it said does not affect other models of the media player, nor does it affect Macs.

From a PR perspective, Apple did the right thing by taking responsibility (and even managed to get a shot in at MS in the process):

"As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it," Apple said on its site.

THis doesn't mean that you should run a vertical stack like Henry Ford did back in the 1920's - but it does mean that you need to "trust, but verify" rather than just "trust".

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