Could not have said it better myself. People have tunnel vision and cherry pick their data.
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Former Apple Executives Address Working Conditions in Suppliers' Factories
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Could not have said it better myself. People have tunnel vision and cherry pick their data.
The competitors don't sell newspapers or generate website views. NYT is a worthless excuse for a newspaper. I don't think it's a coincidence these stories came out just before/after Apple's earnings release.
You can say the same thing about HP, Dell, IBM, Lenovo, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Acer, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Cisco, Intel, Motorola, Panasonic, Phillips, Sharp and Toshiba. OK, maybe not Motorola.
The article specifically says that Apple's unique obsession with secrecy and NDAs with suppliers (and their suppliers), as well as squeezing the tightest of margins on them, have led to more intense pressure on them - more intense than other companies quoted.
Apple has tremendous market power and leverage. If they wanted to use it, they would. Apple is also an industrial and market leader. If they wanted to reinvent their supply chain according to their principles (as they have already done, to extraordinary and well deserved success in terms of design) they could.
A leader leads. Perhaps more than any other company, Apple can bend otherwise impenetrable barriers. They make things happen when they want to. When the price of noncompliance (through shaming articles like this) becomes higher than the extra cost in leading a change toward a more enlightened use of their supply chain, they will act.
Sadly, not before. We Apple obsessives are perhaps simply used to expecting too much from the company.
Still, from all I have read of Tim Cook, I think he will announce some rather drastic and welcome changes, as Apple begins to evolve beyond Jobs' cruelty-DNA. No matter how well that has served them in the past, it's time for a new paradigm, and I'm counting on Cook to make that happen.
Dell, HP, Samsung, etc. have plenty of money and power to do the same. This isn't Apple's fault nor their responsibility.
If you feel that your government needs more business insight, then you should work to elect more businessmen. I think that may help too, but ONLY IF the businessmen elected have their priorities straight, namely:
#1 - Regulate (not over-regulate) businesses to achieve better working environments.
#2 - Promote successful business models.
Governments exist to do the **** that businesses can't/won't do.
Apple is singled out, because (as is detailed in this report and others), it has a much more abusive relationship with its suppliers with regards to margin, and have not been willing to compromise on this to ensure decent working conditions. Apple's effective supply chain management stands out in the business: and its also built upon this very exploitation. Apple is singled out because Apple stands out. Their practices simply are more evil than that of their competitors, and if you read this article again, comparisons are drawn.
The other tech companies would love for apple to build in the USA and increase their costs while decreasing efficiency. This gives their competitors an advantage. None of the big companies will follow because they have significantly smaller margins than apple and could not follow suit.
Jobs was so cruel. you are right. who cares about the lives he's changed of disability kids by allowing them to communicate with ipads, or the increased engagement in education. what a cruel cruel guy.
Doesn't make it accurate
Just because 100's of news stations around the world report something does *not* make it accurate. News is a commodity. People get paid to pass stories on to outlets. Outlets eat it up as easy pickings. Tony, we don't really know all the facts yet, so please tone down your rhetoric.
Just because 100's of news stations around the world report something does *not* make it accurate. News is a commodity. People get paid to pass stories on to outlets. Outlets eat it up as easy pickings. Tony, we don't really know all the facts yet, so please tone down your rhetoric.
Hahaha thats funny. So everybody should write about how apple is most valuable company right now but they can't single it for this because its not fair? That is hilarious.
It goes both ways and apple can change things around by leading the pack like they did with iphones and ipads but it hasn't happened yet and probably will not as there are a lot of politics involved behind the scenes.
So you're saying that the likes of IBM or Intel or HP or Dell do not manufacture a lot of stuff and do not have a lot of money either?
I still do not understand why Apple has to be singled out each time a Foxconn story breaks.
Well spoken. At last someone who actually reads and processes the information provided.
Man... the Apple apologists reaction to this reminds me of something...
http://gizmodo.com/5879207/how-the-...n-artist-to-catch-googles-criminal-activities
Read the comments... interesting on how Google apologists react to this story. Sound familiar?
Yup... sounds like Apple apologists for this NY Times story.
Seems like Apple and Google fanboys are a LOT more alike than different.
w00master
http://gizmodo.com/5879207/how-the-...n-artist-to-catch-googles-criminal-activities
Read the comments... interesting on how Google apologists react to this story. Sound familiar?
Yup... sounds like Apple apologists for this NY Times story.
Seems like Apple and Google fanboys are a LOT more alike than different.
w00master
No. They don't. Apple doesn't have the "money and power" to do anything about Chinese labour, in China, that is under the mandate of the Chinese government.
Apple can pull out of China, of course. And there goes the neighbourhood.
Not really. Consider that Apple used to manufacture computers in the US and did quite well, even back then.
Well lets stick to the american companies but Dell and HP for example do not have the profit nor the margins Apple do. On top of that they do not manufacture as much.
Yes they should get some heat but Apple is the one who can start the biggest change.
But then again the argument for I see defending Apple is this argument "Everyone else does it" That argument is crap and not valid. It just an excuse but not a valid reason.
Bingo. Apple could start a pull out. Take a hit on the profit margins but they still would be turning massive profits. 40% margins and not even bothering to do something about it.If they can pull out isn't that exerting control?
Apple carries the DNA of its founder. It is idealistic and pure genius. It makes extraordinary products that have helped countless people. But Apple carries ALL the DNA of its founder. If you read the biography of Jobs, his many acts of utter cruelty toward others are detailed.
I think it's a little disingenuous to compare Apple to other companies, because none of us is ever going to buy a Dell, right? Apple is exceptional: that's why we single them out when we buy their products. We also expect them to behave better than the crapola PC makers.
And unique among them, Apple has the cash reserve to begin to transform the conditions under which their products are assembled. They're not God. They can't make it happen overnight. But just as they have made many near-miraculous products happen over years of quiet planning, they could also use their power to make a difference in the lives of the people who actually build their products.
It's the Zen thing to do...
If they can pull out isn't that exerting control?
No, that's ****ing up your business and driving up prices for you and me. There is no corporate board of directors on earth that would approve of such a move in the first place, unless government regulations required it.
That is not a viable solution. Certainly not workable for the foreseeable future.
This is China's responsibility, along with that of the international community (governments.) It isn't an Apple problem, nor can Apple address it effectively beyond doing what oversight they are doing now.
And the argument "they are big and have the money" is not crap? There is nothing that obligates apple to change how a third party company manages their workers. it would be nice but it's not required by law. ....well until obama taxes the hell out of any and all companies with jobs overseas like he stated in the SATU.
Some things to consider...
First, these former Apple Execs, if they waited for their NDAs to expire, are reporting on facts from several years ago.
Second, Apple doesn't own those factories, and I'm sure no executive likes to be told how to run his own business. Apple may try to enforce some ethics, but in reality there's not much they can do.
Third, that's how China runs. It has a lot of people that would otherwise would be unemployed if there were no factories for them to work at. True, there's obviously some kind of exploitation going on in there, but what's better: working too much or having no work at all?
Fourth, it's the main responsibility of the chinese government to look after their own citizens. If the government allows it, it's their problem. This is not a recent problem. The word of a foreigner just ends in deaf ears.
Fifth, whoever is planning to stop buying Apple products because of this, then this person should also stop buying any clothing, shoes, cameras and any other product made outside the U.S.A. And even here in the U.S., the same problem exists, just that is well hidden. There are lots of clothing factories that exploit people, including children for wages below minimum limits, and also long hours of work.
In conclusion: Start cleaning your own house before trying to clean other people's houses!
First, these former Apple Execs, if they waited for their NDAs to expire, are reporting on facts from several years ago.
Second, Apple doesn't own those factories, and I'm sure no executive likes to be told how to run his own business. Apple may try to enforce some ethics, but in reality there's not much they can do.
Third, that's how China runs. It has a lot of people that would otherwise would be unemployed if there were no factories for them to work at. True, there's obviously some kind of exploitation going on in there, but what's better: working too much or having no work at all?
Fourth, it's the main responsibility of the chinese government to look after their own citizens. If the government allows it, it's their problem. This is not a recent problem. The word of a foreigner just ends in deaf ears.
Fifth, whoever is planning to stop buying Apple products because of this, then this person should also stop buying any clothing, shoes, cameras and any other product made outside the U.S.A. And even here in the U.S., the same problem exists, just that is well hidden. There are lots of clothing factories that exploit people, including children for wages below minimum limits, and also long hours of work.
In conclusion: Start cleaning your own house before trying to clean other people's houses!
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