(Apples) Hardware itself is not typically manufactured by Apple, but is outsourced to contract manufacturers such as Foxconn or Pegatron who build Apple's branded products to Apple's specifications.
Apple is not the best, they do some things well, but are by far not the best. My android outdoes my friends iPhone in picture taking and call quality, the rest I haven't compared, but those are the 2 things done most often with a cell. He was trying to take a picture of some kegs of toner on a press and couldn't get a decent shot, so I snapped one and he was very impressed and used it to send to the manufacturer with an inquiry as to the product number discrepancies he noticed.