ABC Previews 'Nightline' Visit to Foxconn's Chinese Factories

[BuddyTronic]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/t...lectronics-giant-foxconn.html?ref=global-home

Although the basic story has been around for a while, the recent interest was generated by a NY Times series a few weeks ago. This is the Times latest article out today (2/20). ABC is just a journalistic follower.

The last paragraph is interesting. Your iPad6 could be made by robots.

True that!

I was halfway wondering several years ago when they were talking about the aluminum frame being CNC machined out of a block of aluminum (for the original Macbook Air). I was hoping to hear that the reason Apple bought a big old IBM building in California was that they were going to say that they were going to fully automate the production of Macbook Air's with state of the art robot factory operation.

It made sense to my imagination - save on shipping charges, reduce employee payroll, obtain superior quality.

With 100 Billion in cash, Apple could possibly make some robot factory designs and slap one down on every continent maybe haha.

It's true that labour is cheap and is going to stay cheap in China for now, and ocean freight is practically free in the global economy, but nevertheless it might be a pro-active step if Apple were to invest in whatever the latest assembly robot workforce is. Maybe I'm still dreaming.

 

[AppleMuse]

Nice Job Apple!

Opening the doors is respectable, responsible and admirable.
This obviously puts Apple under the microscope- but also in a leadership role.
Everyone knows every Tech company uses factories like this...
I hope ABC puts this in context, like comparisons to other industries- clothing, shoes, plastic things, etc.

 

[tdream]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

The sweatshop narrative is just like every other media narrative. You can't get these liars to do anything but sensationalize and push their agenda. Truth be damned. I happen to know many people who've been to the factories in China and those people are darn glad to work those jobs. Often, they will only work a year or two and make a lot of money to then take back to their rural hometowns.

If Americans weren't such overpaid lazy bums, we could have some of those jobs as well.

Or I know people who come to the UK and Ireland earn £400 a week and send it back home to their families. How do you think that compares?

And trust me it's less intensive than what they do in the factory.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Why do I have a feeling we will see all lies.

 

[Digital Skunk]

How did this comment get 22 negative votes??? Are people really that obsessed with defending apple that even human life is comparable to that of a chicken?

It might have that many negative because of later comment, but fact is making $1.78 for a country whose cost of living isn't as high as say Europe's or even just the UK is normal.

Making say . . . . $20,000 a year puts in you in the poverty level in the US, but you are in fact in the top 11% of the richest people in the world.

 

[BuddyTronic]

Yep. If it bothers people so much stop buying Apple products. Do the research and only buy products made in the USA (or whatever country your from) where workers earn a wage and work in conditions that you find acceptable.

Yep, I have thought about this a lot, and I think I have a chance to test the theory and also probably make a bit of a media splash for my own company!

 

[Erwin-Br]

What I find striking is that so many people put Apple on a pedestal.

Competitors like Dell, HP, etc. are FAR from being equal to Apple, in their eyes. Yet, when it comes to ethical issues, Dell and HP are suddenly equal to Apple again ("They do it too!").

Ignoring the fact that two wrongs don't make a right, I would say that being the greatest company in the world is measured beyond how much money or marketshare is gained. If Apple is truly the best company, it would also beat the competition in working conditions of its contractors. Weird that this is not valued at all here. That it's only about profit and marketshare. What a sad world.

 

[jackc]

If Apple is truly the best company, it would also beat the competition in working conditions of its contractors. Weird that this is not valued at all here. That it's only about profit and marketshare. What a sad world.

They are making those workers better off, what are you going to do for them? Wishing that poor workers could get paid US wages, while holding everything else the same, doesn't put food on the table.

 

[snowmoon]

Personally I think Tim Cooks biggest mistakes was starting to respond to the doubters. Maybe he has some inside information that we don't, but all that seems to have happened is that with each successive response from the company comes more outlandish questions and demands. Fringe groups protesting outside of Apple stores claiming that they brought about the labor inspections despite the face that these deals have been in the works for months or years previous. Claiming that people should avoid Apple because of the way they treat their oversees workers despite the overwhelming documentation to the contrary.

.. and all of this ignoring the fact that if there is a problem Apple is one of the good guys and has been leading the call for change for years pushing it's code of conduct up the suppliers chain. I would love to see any similar large brand ( cough *SONY*, cough *NIKE* ) do anything like this.

 

[guitarslayer]

What is the possibility that they "cleaned up" some things before the cameras showed up? Or told employee's to keep their mouths shut to keep their jobs??

 

[pdjudd]

What is the possibility that they "cleaned up" some things before the cameras showed up? Or told employee's to keep their mouths shut to keep their jobs??

Pretty low. These factories are immense and the costs of bringing them up to snuff every-time would be huge compared to just doing it right from the get go isn't worth the hassle.

ETA: They couldn't hide things for long - too many points of failure.

 

[hkenneth]

Agree.

There are so many people in this thread that are completely clueless about what relative wages.

I mean my lord, my parents grew up as kids in the 1940s where salaries of $1400 was average and the minimum Wage $.43 per hour. It doesn't matter what your salary is if goods and services are relative to it.

People really need to wrap their head around the term 'RELATIVE' and learn what it means and how it applies to things.

But iPod is the same price in China as in the US. They could never afford one

 

[charlituna]

Were they making iPad3 while he was walking around?

That is probably why they restricted interviews.

 

[BuddyTronic]

But iPod is the same price in China as in the US. They could never afford one

That is true for the factory workers in Shenzhen, they can't afford the very product they are assembling. It's a fact.

But I'll betcha that Shenzhen and Shanghai citizens buy more Porsche 911's than are sold in California! So go figure! (and they probably cost double what the price is in California!)

 

[charlituna]

.

We aren't talking suicides across the nation, we are talking about 17 suicides in the same COMPANY within a few months who all felt the need to jump out of windows.

but how many were due to working conditions versus the stress of having to send money home and they wanted their families to get the years salary that old be sent if they died, regardless of how

And let's not forget the 100+ people from the Xbox line that just last month threatened to jump en mass specifying it was due to their crap working conditions. Are you going to say Apple needs to fix that

 

[Dbrown]

They are making those workers better off, what are you going to do for them? Wishing that poor workers could get paid US wages, while holding everything else the same, doesn't put food on the table.

Forget about wages, how about plain human decency? We expect China to conform to our standards of human rights, but at the same time its ok to let their workers be abused? And dont say it's foxconn's fault. Apple can make foxconn hire more workers so they dont have to work so hard. But apple is greedy. Instead of 100b in the bank, apple might only have 99b if it tried to improve work conditions.

 

[griz]

What is the basis for your assertion that Foxconn doesn't adhere to standards all the time (with the proviso that **** happens, and a lot of **** happens at US companies as well)? What makes you think Foxconn would _want_ to employ underage workers? They can't pay them less, because _someone_ would know, and eventually _someone_ would talk, and then the company would be in big ****. The kind of **** that can cost someone high up their head. Literally.

The basis for my assertion?
Only the story that started all this talk.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory

 

[charlituna]

Did anyone else find that preview difficult to watch? In this technology age we still rely on the human hand and factories of human machines just making products for others.

So let's replace them with robots and then all those people would be unemployed

 

[stabsteer]

why isnt there this same level of scrutiny of america's chicken farms?

Can I give you a freaking million thumbs up or what?! Could not ***** agree more.

Big Agriculture and the Meat industries are trying to make it illegal to be anywhere near their facilities and videotape or take photos. Why? WTF are they hiding? I'm guessing we don't want to know.

 

[jackc]

Forget about wages, how about plain human decency? We expect China to conform to our standards of human rights, but at the same time its ok to let their workers be abused? And dont say it's foxconn's fault. Apple can make foxconn hire more workers so they dont have to work so hard. But apple is greedy. Instead of 100b in the bank, apple might only have 99b if it tried to improve work conditions.

What's the abuse? Working long hours at a tedious job?

 

[Dillenger]

The workers make a $1.50 an hour? Wow!

 

[Ryth]

The workers make a $1.50 an hour? Wow!

And get free room and board, medical, days off, entertainment, food, etc.

And the cost of living in China is different then America where $1.50 isn't the same thing and you can get a beer for .15 cents.

WOW!

 

[Apple Corps]

Personally I think Tim Cooks biggest mistakes was starting to respond to the doubters. Maybe he has some inside information that we don't, but all that seems to have happened is that with each successive response from the company comes more outlandish questions and demands...

Snowmoon - spot on - just listening to the negative spin makes me believe this is a hatchet job in the making. Tim would be well advised to push for "good" working conditions with Foxconn and avoid responding to the press at all.

 

[The Man]

People forget, workers are not mistreated in the West? We don't have factories with poor working conditions? In your dreams. People have it tough in Western factories too, but you don't get to visit those, because you don't want to know.

 

[rhinosrcool]

pretty low. These factories are immense and the costs of bringing them up to snuff every-time would be huge compared to just doing it right from the get go isn't worth the hassle.

Eta: They couldn't hide things for long - too many points of failure.

lol!