Editorial companion

What stands out

Ed Conway traces a moment of everyday gear, 1970s Nike trainers, into the origin story of global tech manufacturing. He shows how Nike's offshoring playbook taught Apple supply-chain thinking, and how Apple in turn taught China the art of building the world's factories. For investors, it is a reminder that corporate strategy, labor arbitrage, and geopolitical friction are not abstract, they are the scaffolding behind margins and stock moves for companies like Apple and Nike.