The only Chinese input is labor, which is used to assemble the components manufactured in other countries.

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Last month, Apple unveiled a host of new features tailored to Chinese users, including integrating its operating systems with Chinese Internet services and making it easier to input Chinese characters.

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Nokia also created a couple of handsets just for China, the 6108 and 3108, which use stylus input to handle written Chinese characters.

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But the crucial element may be that, in contracting manufacturing out to Chinese factories, GE lost control over, and input into, the foundation of the manufacturing process, the assembly line.

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Chinese works like a champ when viewing websites, but we haven't found any way to input it.

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And as the costs of rare earths increase while the dependability of Chinese supply decreases, the incentive only grows for engineers to come up with ways to use some other input.

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