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Pegatron Employee Describes Role in Producing Apple's Lower-Cost Plastic iPhone

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Earlier today, labor rights group China Labor Watch issued a report making claims of poor working conditions at Apple's assembly partner Pegatron. As pointed out by Computerworld, the 60-page report (PDF) confirms that Apple is working on production of a plastic iPhone, a device that has been rumored for some time and seen in a number of recent part leaks.

iPhone-Plastique-Couleurs-Photo.jpg
Photo of alleged lower-cost plastic iPhone rear shells in multiple colors​
A section of the report entitled "July 9, 2013: A day in Pegatron" includes a paragraph on page 28 in which a worker describes his or her role in applying protective film to the rear shell of the device before the part enters the assembly process.
Today's work is to paste protective film on the iPhone's plastic back cover to prevent it from being scratched on assembly lines. This iPhone model with a plastic cover will soon be released on the market by Apple. The task is pretty easy, and I was able to work independently after a five-minute instruction from a veteran employee. It took around a minute to paste protective film on one rear cover. The new cell phone has not yet been put into mass production, so quantity is not as important. This makes our job more slow paced than in departments that have begun mass production schedules.
Click to expand...
Pegatron had previously been reported as Apple's manufacturing partner for the lower-cost plastic iPhone, which is rumored to be launching later this year alongside the iPhone 5S. The firm has long been an assembly partner for Apple, although it has been overshadowed by the much larger Foxconn. Pegatron has, however, been growing rapidly as Apple has been seeking to balance and expand its supply chain to provide more stability and flexibility.

Article Link: Pegatron Employee Describes Role in Producing Apple's Lower-Cost Plastic iPhone
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/29/pegatron-employee-describes-role-in-producing-apples-lower-cost-plastic-iphone/
Mac21ND

Mac21ND

macrumors 6502a
Jun 6, 2007
724
167
New Entry for July 29, 2013:

Today I was fired for talking about unreleased products.

- Former Pegatron employee
 
GoCubsGo

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Mac21ND said:
New Entry for July 29, 2013:

Today I was fired for talking about unreleased products.

- Former Pegatron employee
Click to expand...

I had the same thought. Today's work for employees who weren't fired over speaking is to put on the protective plastic film on the back cover.
 
cleanup

cleanup

macrumors 68030
Jun 26, 2005
2,643
10
Toronto
The important thing: poor working conditions exist where iPhones are being manufactured and workers may be suffering.

What people actually care about: OMG THERE'S DEFINITELY A PLASTIC IPHONE COMING OUT.

:rolleyes:
 
ValSalva

ValSalva

macrumors 68040
Jun 26, 2009
3,783
259
Burpelson AFB
Let's hope that worker's identity is kept anonymous. There is a lot of pressure put on these poor employees.

But if this is legitimate it pretty much confirms the so-called iPhone 5C.
 
T

thelookingglass

macrumors 68020
Apr 27, 2005
2,138
633
ValSalva said:
Let's hope that worker's identity is kept anonymous. There is a lot of pressure put on these poor employees.

But if this is legitimate it pretty much confirms the so-called iPhone 5C.
Click to expand...

Poor employees? You realize these people choose to work at Pegatron, right? It's not as if they're being held against their will. They can work there and if they don't like it, there are thousands of other factories in the region that are hiring. The moralizing by these labor rights groups is, on the one hand, admirable, but on the other, horribly ignorant of the realities of life in emerging economies.
 
this is funah

this is funah

macrumors 6502
Oct 13, 2005
458
0
Berlin, Germany
Such a crazy headline... in other words:

"In a report containing claims of 70-hr work weeks & poor working conditions of workers, fat westerners may save a few bucks on their 8th iPhone."
 
T

TWSS37

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2011
1,107
232
Sounds like the entry for July 10th was how the employee watched as other workers installed safety nets outside of the building.
 
J

jb2017

macrumors newbie
Jun 14, 2013
17
0
I guess the employee that made that statement won't be complaining about the working enviroment...FIRED
 
R

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
Seems kinda weird that they are putting on the plastic by hand and it takes a minute. That's only 60 iPhones per employee per minute.

You would think something like this would be done by machine (the protective film).
 
jmh600cbr

jmh600cbr

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2012
1,031
2,496
The orange and yellow look really weird to me. I think the constant "confirmations" are getting old.
 
V

vahalla

macrumors member
Jul 26, 2013
56
0
These are for the preschoolers. Now you can let your kids have the phones without worrying about them dropping yours.
 
cleanup

cleanup

macrumors 68030
Jun 26, 2005
2,643
10
Toronto
Ryth said:
Seems kinda weird that they are putting on the plastic by hand and it takes a minute. That's only 60 iPhones per employee per minute.

You would think something like this would be done by machine (the protective film).
Click to expand...

Do you understand manufacturing, and how costly it is to design, build and run a machine designed to do only a single task that you could teach a poor young Chinese kid to do in five minutes and pay him pennies on the hour to do it 12 hours a day?

There's a reason why China is a manufacturing economy and the grand majority of everything you own was made there.
 
keysofanxiety

keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
25,302
MacFather said:
Call me pathetic, but this thing looks [C]heap and [C]hildish, Steve would have never...
Click to expand...

I've had a brief look over your previous posts and you do come across as extremely cynical.

And nay I request you stop with the 'Steve would never have ...' posts. They're just insulting at this point.
 
Krazy Bill

Krazy Bill

macrumors 68030
Dec 21, 2011
2,985
3
Well, crap. Where is the Black cheap-o iPhone?

I suppose Black is the #1 seller therefore if you want it you go get the real iPhone. :(
 
ValSalva

ValSalva

macrumors 68040
Jun 26, 2009
3,783
259
Burpelson AFB
thelookingglass said:
Poor employees? You realize these people choose to work at Pegatron, right? It's not as if they're being held against their will. They can work there and if they don't like it, there are thousands of other factories in the region that are hiring. The moralizing by these labor rights groups is, on the one hand, admirable, but on the other, horribly ignorant of the realities of life in emerging economies.
Click to expand...

I understand your point. But it's hard not to have empathy for an individual employee.
 
C

caonimadebi

macrumors regular
May 7, 2009
216
1
If it is released at $99 with contract in the US, I fully expect Apple to advertise it as being "half price" from the classic iPhone.

A $100 price reduction constitutes a mere 17% markdown, assuming the iPhone was previously sold at $600. US consumers should preempt a false-marketing lawsuit.
 
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