Apple Grants ABC's 'Nightline' Access to Foxconn Factories in China

[Mr. Gates]

Figures. The media/government tools can't stand big profits (I love my APPL - I'm rich and happily greedy MUWHAHAHA) Had Apple been making slim profits, this wouldn't be happening. Are people jealous?

Dude, your attitude sucks.

You think your rich .......good for you. I'm glad you felt like sharing.

But that is NOT the problem with FOXCONN and I think you know it. It's a humanitarian issue. Although I personally don't really care, I can understand the issue.

 

[TMay]

Here's the scenario as I understand it.

Backing up for a moment, let me be clear I've been an Apple enthusiast & extremely loyal, happy customer since the first PowerBook 100 series debuted in 1991. So the only point being, I'm not bashing Apple. Just sharing my experience & perspective as someone who knows their Apple history well. I will only post my honest opinion (good or bad) depending on the topic.

To the point, it was Tim Cook under Steve Jobs direction that took them to China. A move I don't necessarily fault them for at the time, since everything they needed to fill demand for Apple products is there. It's also important to remember this was before they had the massive cash reserves of today.

Fast forward to the present. It's public record although rarely reported that after Cook had everything in place at Foxconn, Jobs flew over, had a sit down meeting & told Foxconn that he expected a 10% reduction in his costs each year if Foxconn wanted to keep Apple as a customer. This in addition the the incredibly low labor rate Jobs had already negotiated.

This is why I hold Apple accountable for SOME not All of the atrocities at Foxconn.

Finally, there's no better time than now, and no better man than Tim Cook to correct the issues & lead Apple forward. I have nothing but the highest regard for Tim Cook

This is the part where you provide links to the "public record". Otherwise, some of us might take it as rumor and innuendo.

Ironic that Americans in general tend to be so anti-union but all of the sudden, the love for the Chinese worker, specifically the worker on Apple's product's, is paramount. A bit of Astroturf under all of this sayith my cynical self.

Would that these same Americans be so doting of our own workers.

 

[entatlrg]

Stupid. Does no none get how many thousands of dirt floor factories employing millions of workers there are throughout mainland China???

They work in 40c plus heat, for no wages other than food and board, in fact their dream is to be able to get a job at a factory like Foxconn.

Yes, I do know, our factory is just a few kilometers away from Foxconn. And, yes, our workers are VERY happy and well cared for, in fact I bonus them with money, iPhone4S's and iPads for good jobs done.

It's not that hard folks, I'm just a tiny tiny fish in the sea, owning a small business designing manufacturing consumer products with sales reaching near 10 million annually.

The amount of ******** written on the topic here and by the press such as the New York Times is beyond pathetic, proving the ignorance of a lot of people and the buying public.

If you're looking to find out about horrid working conditions look at companies that supply the Wal-marts of the world with textile products, or companies who do mold work for the auto industry, the freaking workers stand right in the molds!!! Bare skinned, toxic fumes they're burned all over their body and have a very short life expectancy because of their extreme exposure to toxins. When they make mistakes they're often disgraced in front of everyone and sadly also sometimes beaten.

So when you read about Apple and Foxconn, forget it, and if you have concerns for Chinese workers do a hell of a lot more research and you will be sickened by what you learn.

How the press isn't capable of finding this out is beyond beleif. Oh, but wait, finding out and uncovering the real truth of what workers endure in China doesn't matter. This campaign is designed to sell Newspapers and pick on the incredibly popular and succesful Apple.

Anyone else with manufacturing experience in China care to chime in? In another thread there was a good number of people who had experience there and helped set the record straight.

What a misleading world we live in.

 

[vrDrew]

Why don't we try withholding judgement until we've actually seen the news segment?

 

[ixodes]

This is the part where you provide links to the "public record". Otherwise, some of us might take it as rumor and innuendo.

Nice try, buy I don't capture every link to every article I read on the net.

Secondly I don't have any desire to "prove anything".

Don't believe it? I couldn't care less.

 

[Pez555]

i look forward to watching this, will be interesting to know how our phones are put together on the manufacturing lines.

 

[nagromme]

I wonder if Apple is hoping ABC will shed light on HP and other manufactures who use Foxconn.

It isn't just Apple, yet every article seems to slate Apple to bits over it. This might show it is an industry wide problem and Apple isn't alone.
...

Ah, but it IS just Apple... who takes steps nobody else does to improve conditions. It’s just Apple who voluntarily has the FLA audit the situation and report publically, not privately to Apple. If any big electronics maker (much less garment maker!) takes worker conditions as seriously as Apple I have yet to hear about it. Where did the Xbox 360 suicides story go? It’s not trendy to pile on Microsoft these days, so I guess that Foxconn scandal evaporated. (And there may be some negative astroturfing at work, possibly.)

The situation IS bad, and it IS US companies problem, not China’s alone (but theirs first of course). It IS of interest to us as buyers of Chinese products. But to help solve this problem, journalists should report accurately: here’s the problem, here’s what one company (Apple) has done to solve it that no other company has, and here are the companies that are so much worse. Don’t give those worse companies a free pass.

Maybe ABC’s story is about the larger problem, which would be great, but it sounds like another Apple-focussed misdirection. And in any case, more people will see the headline than watch the story, and then it’s an Apple-only problem yet again.

I know people, in real life, who now boycott Apple for this issue... and seek smartphones made in China by other companies instead! Anti-Apple mission accomplished, I guess. (With an army of Apple-haters eager to spread the misinformation tea-party-style.)

All that said, I’m curious to see more inside this place! The good with the bad.

 

[TMay]

i look forward to watching this, will be interesting to know how our phones are put together on the manufacturing lines.

Indeed. I've been in and around small manufacturers, (of which I am one), for the better part of my adult life. Yet I can't comprehend the scale of it.

I just finished a book "Unbroken" about an up and coming track star, who ultimately became a bombadier on a B-24 lost in the Pacific, of which both he and the pilot ultimately became P.O.W's and survived the war.

Anyway, this thread about Foxconn's facilities reminded me of the production of B-24's at Willow Run in Michigan during WWII:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Run

 

[Spectrum Abuser]

"Now Jonaisakiainlipa here's your ¥314.9 for the month, but when that big American comes to film you all they need to know is you get paid this daily. And if they ask why it's over 40'C all the time just say we're fixing the AC. And you really only work eight hours a day. You just choose to put in fourteen hours every single day. Got it?"

 

[ThunderSkunk]

And yet thousands of people line up whenever they're hiring. Because they can't make wages like that anywhere else in their country.

Agreed. We should be proud of taking advantage of the desperately poor and undervalued. Human lives are an acceptable cost in the production of our luxury items, as long as they are from another tribe. Even better if they're in another country. Then we can blame them. Hail capitalism, the great race to the bottom.

 

[Peace]

"Now Jonaisakiainlipa here's your ¥314.9 for the month, but when that big American comes to film you all they need to know is you get paid this daily. And if they ask why it's over 40'C all the time just say we're fixing the AC. And you really only work eight hours a day. You just choose to put in fourteen hours every single day. Got it?"

Been watching Fox news a lot ?

You can't build iPhones and iPads in an environment where it's 40'C. It has to be cool.

Air conditioning is not a problem at the Foxconn factories.

And I read somewhere the average worker at Apple's factories get paid around $325 U.S. dollars a month there. In China that is a lot.

 

[bobajoul]

Non-news

Man, if this is the future of the mac community, get me out! Since Steve died, now everyone is looking for bad things. These FoxConn issues effect all manufacturers and it looks to me like they are poking at Cook to see how he responds. IF everyone wants better manufacturing, bring it home and raise prices 25%, most fanboys will still buy and the used market will heat up. This is just like the % of market by Android and Apple, who cares. As a shareholder, i will keep my stock even if Android goes up 10%. The point for a company is EBIDTA, not market share. Ask Nokia or Motorola if they would give up their entire company for iPhone line. Answer would be yes so fast it would spin your head.

 

[blow45]

"Now Jonaisakiainlipa here's your ¥314.9 for the month, but when that big American comes to film you all they need to know is you get paid this daily. And if they ask why it's over 40'C all the time just say we're fixing the AC. And you really only work eight hours a day. You just choose to put in fourteen hours every single day. Got it?"

lol, great post!

 

[deconstruct60]

Jobs isn't around anymore though. You're probably right that Apple is still keeping connections that Jobs set up (such as any relationship with Disney), but no one at Apple is on the Disney board anymore.

Working at Apple isn't the issue. Jobs' widow/estate is still a major Apple and Disney stockholder. His shares didn't evaporate into nothingness. The widow/estate has a deeply vested stake in seeing Apple's share price stay high and continue to climb. To label this as "independent" is loopy.

That Apple took point on getting rid of the "Steve Jobs likeness" dolls is also demonstrative that the window/estate and Apple are not exactly independent either.

 

[Peace]

Working at Apple isn't the issue. Jobs' widow/estate is still a major Apple and Disney stockholder. His shares didn't evaporate into nothingness. The widow/estate has a deeply vested stake in seeing Apple's share price stay high and continue to climb. To label this as "independent" is loopy.

That Apple took point on getting rid of the "Steve Jobs likeness" dolls is also demonstrative that the window/estate and Apple are not exactly independent either.

Which brings me to the most important point.

Because of what you wrote. Which is true. Apple with have the last say in whether of not this news is aired.

 

[rickdollar]

Ironic that Americans in general tend to be so anti-union but all of the sudden, the love for the Chinese worker, specifically the worker on Apple's product's, is paramount.

That is interesting, isn't it? I've long thought the same thing.

 

[gugy]

people act like this is only an Apple's problem. I would bet that most products manufactured in China have the same issues at their factories and maybe at a much worse scale.

If people are so up in arms about Chinese labor conditions they should stop buying anything "Made in China" and don't complain about the paying higher prices.

 

[bobringer]

It's a shame that Tim Cook has to take the heat for a scenario orchestrated by Steve Jobs.

Yet that said, the report may be spin doctored in Apples favor.

ixodes... do you actually have any clue who was responsible for Apple building this amazing supply chain and manufacturing capability in Asia?

 

[Renzatic]

Because of what you wrote. Which is true. Apple with have the last say in whether of not this news is aired.

No. Apple ultimately doesn't have any say at all in what's aired or reported. They can kick their feet, make threats, shun, and sue, but if the reporter decides to post his story, there's nothing they can do to stop it.

 

[jackc]

Agreed. We should be proud of taking advantage of the desperately poor and undervalued. Human lives are an acceptable cost in the production of our luxury items, as long as they are from another tribe. Even better if they're in another country. Then we can blame them. Hail capitalism, the great race to the bottom.

So you've sold all your Apple products, right?

And you've explained to the Chinese workers that they're being exploited and should quit so they can work in an air-conditioned office, right?

 

[bobringer]

Here's the scenario as I understand it.

It's public record although rarely reported that after Cook had everything in place at Foxconn, Jobs flew over, had a sit down meeting & told Foxconn that he expected a 10% reduction in his costs each year if Foxconn wanted to keep Apple as a customer. This in addition the the incredibly low labor rate Jobs had already negotiated.

It's "public record?" Sigh... where do these things come from...

----------

Nice try, buy I don't capture every link to every article I read on the net.

Secondly I don't have any desire to "prove anything".

Don't believe it? I couldn't care less.

Dude... making things up and saying it's "public record" without any actual evidence isn't quite the way to get anybody to actually put ANY credence in what you say.

You're just wasting bits continuing to do that.

----------

Agreed. We should be proud of taking advantage of the desperately poor and undervalued. Human lives are an acceptable cost in the production of our luxury items, as long as they are from another tribe. Even better if they're in another country. Then we can blame them. Hail capitalism, the great race to the bottom.

ThunderSkunk... would prefer that these people not have jobs at all and just live on The State? You have a problem with the quality of life in China, blame China... not a company providing the ability for Chinese companies, the Chinese worker, and the Chinese society as a whole to generate some level of wealth that would not be possible at all had they not decided to buy components from Asian companies and build products in China.

 

[Renzatic]

That is interesting, isn't it? I've long thought the same thing.

Americans in general aren't anti-union. Just the hardline Republicans.

What I find weird is that these very same Republicans are the apple pie Americana preaching party, but their actions and speeches show us they so, so desperately want us to be exactly like China.

...which, you know, China as it is now is quite a bit like we were back during the turn of the century. The only big difference is all the factories are overseen by the government, instead of single vested interests. Robber barons and the like. Guess history is cyclical.

 

[bobringer]

Americans in general aren't anti-union. Just the hardline Republicans.

What I find weird is that these very same Republicans are the apple pie Americana preaching party, but their actions and speeches show us they so, so desperately want us to be exactly like China.

...which, you know, China as it is now is quite a bit like we were back during the turn of the century. The only big difference is all the factories are overseen by the government, instead of single vested interests. Robber barons and the like. Guess history is cyclical.

The inability of educated people to be in touch with reality is mindblowing. I live in New Jersey. THE BLUEST OF BLUE STATES. Chris Christie's approval rating in New Jersey is about +18% SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE he has finally stood up to the unions in this state.

Clearly it's just that New Jersey is filled with "hard line Republicans" right? Sigh...

Saying "anti union" people want us to be like China is ridiculous. The fact is... the unions that improved working conditions in the United States have accomplished their job many years ago. NOBODY IS SUGGESTING WE HAVE KIDS WORKING IN COAL MINES... and if YOU are suggesting we do... your comments should be rejected outright as someone spewing anti-republican rhetoric just for the sake of doing so, regardless of facts.


I mean really... look at all the sweatshops and child labor in the "right to work" states down south. I mean... they have low unemployment and high salaries compared to cost of living. OBVIOUSLY, I'm not going to stop beating them down until they are just like China!!!

 

[h00ligan]

Where is the line?


You should have our work standards

You should have our democracy

You should have our god



It's not our place to project our society onto others. In any way.

 

[Renzatic]

Kinda overexerting the point a bit, aren't you? I'm not saying that ALL Republicans want to ship off a bunch of kids to the coal mines. Hell, I doubt any of them want us to go that far. But they would absolutely love it if our industries and working standards were quite a bit less regulated than they are now. They're using China as the working example here. Thinking that the only way we can compete against a country who has almost nil workers rights laws, environmental regulations, is to unburden ourselves from the yoke of said regulations, and follow their example.

Maybe I shouldn't have said "just like China". More like China would be the better phrase.