Foxconn Workers Reportedly Strike over iPhone 5 Quality Control Demands

[mikefla]

Anyone who thinks that the difference between retail sales price and the cost of producing an item is profit should really not ever start a business, and preferably not ever talk about business.

And the whole discussion started with quality control. Quality control is there to make sure that for every phone sold, only one needs to be built. If you read through this thread, many people are not happy with the quality of products, and as a result for every product sold, actually two or sometimes more have to be built if the quality is rubbish.




Foxconn doesn't have the cheapest labour by far. Go to India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, and check out the clothes industry there. That's where you have _cheap_ labour. Then look at places where European and US rubbish is shipped to, and where people are working to get useful scraps from that rubbish. That's where you have labour that is _less than cheap_. Most Foxconn workers come from some rural village, work at Foxconn for two years, saving 70% of their salary because they pay next to nothing for food and living quarters, and return home with lots of money.

What are you talking about, these people are live in slaves. Lots of money? They make peanuts. They are poor people that don't have a choice, they are trying to feed their families and perhaps afford their families a better future. Who the hell wants to be a factory slave year round, nobody unless they have a need for it. I encourage you to travel a little more. The world outside the US is allot different than what Americans are accustomed to.


-Mike

 

[69650]

This is clearly a design flaw and Apple seriously needs to address this issue if they want to maintain their reputation for quality products. Many people buying the iPhone will be first time Apple users, it's not going to create much of a halo affect if they experience poor quality. If as Schiller says this material naturally scuffs and niks then they need to change the material and fast or find some form of coating to go over it.

 

[SkippyThorson]

people in the USA are too damn lazy. They won't do a job like that....

Sad, but I won't brush that statement off. It's true.

 

[RonDMC]

Many people were complaining about scratches when they OPENED THE BOX.

Completely different story and they can complain rightfully so. Easy fix return it to Apple and get a replacement. I am talking about the people who got a mint phone and due to their negligence scratch it up and then complain, but I think you already know this.

 

[dennislaska]

Lot's of America haters.

I feel sorry for you.

If it wasn't for the USA you would not have Apple products.

or windows, or, well you get the picture

I don't mean where it's made. I mean where the R&D and company innovation is.

USA:

Apple
Oracle
Microsoft
Google
Facebook
Twitter

etc.
This

 

[Rafagon]

Wage increases, Apple spending time in China to make sure they're treated well, and these bitches are still complaining? Time to bring the operation Stateside... Let's dump China once and for all!!

 

[nia820]

Wage increases, Apple spending time in China to make sure they're treated well, and these bitches are still complaining? Time to bring the operation Stateside... Let's dump China once and for all!!

Do you honestly think Americans or any western country for that matter would work as hard as these Chinese workers? Apple and other companies shipped overseas for a reason, it's cheaper and workers rights aren't as strict as they are in developed nations.

 

[iGrip]

All Apple care about its its users.

Naw. All that Apple cares about is the bottom line. The users (a/k/a the buyers) are just a means to get profits.

 

[IBradMac]

Apple gives them a raise, workers strike.
Ok, I see how unions work now.

 

[bruinsrme]

Naw. All that Apple cares about is the bottom line. The users (a/k/a the buyers) are just a means to get profits.

I agree. Reduce the number of employees on your retail. Really, probably your lowest paid employees who are peddling your product? Unreal

 

[kdarling]

people in the USA are too damn lazy. They won't do a job like that....

Lazy? Not in general. Most Americans work longer hours and take less vacation than people in other countries, especially European. Americans are usually in the top ten world list of longest hours of work each week.

And while, yes, in some areas people seem to be adverse to doing what is considered boring, menial work, I also know many laid-off people who now do whatever is necessary to support their family.

 

[aerok]

Don't forget those companies also have guard towers. Sounds more like forced labor camps than places of employment.

Those guard towars exist to avoid product leaks AFAIK. You should check out the security checkpoint for Samsung's factories, it looks tighter than airport security checkpoints.

----------

Lazy? Not in general. Most Americans work longer hours and take less vacation than people in other countries, especially European. Americans are usually in the top ten world list of longest hours of work each week.

And while, yes, in some areas people seem to be adverse to doing what is considered boring, menial work, I also know many laid-off people who now do whatever is necessary to support their family.

I second that and I'm not even American. USA has some of the shortest vacation hours and social benefits. Most middle class Americans have to work so hard to afford education and basic healthcare. Canadians and Europeans have less worries and longer ''time-off'' hours (Vacation, sick time, parental leave, etc)

Not to forget that minimum wage in some states is $5.10, that's insanely low!

 

[zone23]

Do you honestly think Americans or any western country for that matter would work as hard as these Chinese workers? Apple and other companies shipped overseas for a reason, it's cheaper and workers rights aren't as strict as they are in developed nations.

Yes Americans would. How exactly do you think this country was built? Not everyone is as lazy as you portray them. Maybe you should take a look at the car industry, steel mills, farmers, and construction workers you probably think those people are all lazy too.

Oh and does anyone actually know what the cost of living and average income is in China? Before you go OMG they only make $2.00/HR we have no idea what the average pay is there. For all we know $2.00/HR could be equivalent to $10-$12/HR here. Maybe someone familiar with that could chime in.

Also it would seem that China is a Communist county. They do not have the freedoms we enjoy in America.

 

[Swordylove]

I'm so sick of hearing about this scratching thing, do people not have anything better to do than to complain? I have had my iPhone 5 for a couple of weeks now, bareback in my pocket, put it on surfaces and it still looks like new, not a single mark. If you bought a new car and scratched it against something would you complain to the manufacturer that they didn't apply the paint correctly? This world must also be full of uncoordinated people who lack basic motor skills. I have never dropped my phone and use it hours each day, had an iPhone since the 3G.

If you want to keep your phone in good condition take care of it and think before you do something and you will NOT have a problem even without a case. It's time for everyone to move on from this because I am sick of hearing about it!

I'm pretty sure those people who got their iPhones scratched/scuffed right out of the box don't care about how you treat your iPhone.

 

[Medic311]

Anyone who thinks that the difference between retail sales price and the cost of producing an item is profit should really not ever start a business, and preferably not ever talk about business.

And the whole discussion started with quality control. Quality control is there to make sure that for every phone sold, only one needs to be built. If you read through this thread, many people are not happy with the quality of products, and as a result for every product sold, actually two or sometimes more have to be built if the quality is rubbish.

yawn, how many times does this have to be said by myself and others. when analysts compare raw profit margin of a product, they don't take into consideration marketing, advertising, shipping, etc. this isn't what "i believe" in and has nothing to do with starting a business, this is how it's done. the overhead, marketing, advertising, credit card fees, etc are all accounted for later on by analysts but not at the individual product profit margin comparison. you might as why, and that's because most analysts presume these associated costs are standard across the industry. apple and samsung both pay money for advertising, they both pay money for shipping, they both pay credit card fees, etc. these are standard costs of doing business. analysts care about what edge apple products have over their competition, and that edge is from the raw profit margin at the POM (point of manufacture).

sounds just like the iPad 3's early track record too.
i was one of the lucky ones. when i bought an iPad 3, 32GB LTE-verizon last week it was defective (backlight bleed, pink tint, chip in aluminum shell). i exchanged it for another one and this one is perfect. apple seems to have made some improvements with the iPad 3 at least

 

[nia820]

Yes Americans would. How exactly do you think this country was built? Not everyone is as lazy as you portray them. Maybe you should take a look at the car industry, steel mills, farmers, and construction workers you probably think those people are all lazy too.

Oh and does anyone actually know what the cost of living and average income is in China? Before you go OMG they only make $2.00/HR we have no idea what the average pay is there. For all we know $2.00/HR could be equivalent to $10-$12/HR here. Maybe someone familiar with that could chime in.

Also it would seem that China is a Communist county. They do not have the freedoms we enjoy in America.

that was a different time. people are so lazy nowdays they would think they are too good for the job.

i hate to say it about my generation (y) but they wouldn't do it.

the baby boomer generation might do it but they are too old to do that kinda of job now.

 

[motrek]

Sorry, but making the back of a modern cell phone out of glass and metal is stupid. It's unnecessarily difficult to manufacture, the metal scratches easily and looks ugly when scratched, the glass is fragile, and the metal makes it impossible to have wireless charging or NFC.

Apple, we get it, you think you're too good to make phones out of plastic anymore. But that's the only reasonable material to use for making phones. Stop with this glass/metal nonsense that's so difficult to make that it's causing the workers to strike and start making plastic phones again. It doesn't have to be cheap glossy plastic either. Have your materials people make a nice plastic. But this nonsense has to stop.

 

[MH01]

So those fools have no problem letting predamaged iPhones full of nicks and scuffs slip past QC and they're striking because they got caught?

Fools??? Hmmmm interesting.

 

[zone23]

Sorry, but making the back of a modern cell phone out of glass and metal is stupid. It's unnecessarily difficult to manufacture, the metal scratches easily and looks ugly when scratched, the glass is fragile, and the metal makes it impossible to have wireless charging or NFC.

Apple, we get it, you think you're too good to make phones out of plastic anymore. But that's the only reasonable material to use for making phones. Stop with this glass/metal nonsense that's so difficult to make that it's causing the workers to strike and start making plastic phones again. It doesn't have to be cheap glossy plastic either. Have your materials people make a nice plastic. But this nonsense has to stop.

If I wanted a cheap plastic phone I would have bought one. Absolutely could careless about NFC. I haven't see one vender where I live that uses it. I have used Passbook a couple of times already. Wireless charging ya because its so... hard... to plug in my phone.. Please read the lazy people posts above I think you fall in that generation "y" that was talked about. Please go back to playing with your S3.. so tired of cheap plastic junk..

 

[anomie]

So those fools have no problem letting predamaged iPhones full of nicks and scuffs slip past QC and they're striking because they got caught?

Another brainless american. Go hang yourself

 

[MH01]

Yes Americans would. How exactly do you think this country was built? Not everyone is as lazy as you portray them. Maybe you should take a look at the car industry, steel mills, farmers, and construction workers you probably think those people are all lazy too.

Oh and does anyone actually know what the cost of living and average income is in China? Before you go OMG they only make $2.00/HR we have no idea what the average pay is there. For all we know $2.00/HR could be equivalent to $10-$12/HR here. Maybe someone familiar with that could chime in.

Also it would seem that China is a Communist county. They do not have the freedoms we enjoy in America.

It seems china is a communist country?!? That pretty much summarised the post lol.

 

[Medic311]

I'm so sick of hearing about this scratching thing, do people not have anything better to do than to complain? I have had my iPhone 5 for a couple of weeks now, bareback in my pocket, put it on surfaces and it still looks like new, not a single mark. If you bought a new car and scratched it against something would you complain to the manufacturer that they didn't apply the paint correctly? This world must also be full of uncoordinated people who lack basic motor skills. I have never dropped my phone and use it hours each day, had an iPhone since the 3G.

If you want to keep your phone in good condition take care of it and think before you do something and you will NOT have a problem even without a case. It's time for everyone to move on from this because I am sick of hearing about it!

it's about people who opened the box, and found defects. no one is disputing that blogger who purposefully scratched a store model, as being wrong and overdoing it.

it's about the people who opened the brand new box of a $700+ phone to find scratches, nicks, and other surface defects. not acceptable for that price point. something has to give, and it seems quality was sacrificed to boost profit margin

 

[3282868]

Sorry, but making the back of a modern cell phone out of glass and metal is stupid. It's unnecessarily difficult to manufacture, the metal scratches easily and looks ugly when scratched, the glass is fragile, and the metal makes it impossible to have wireless charging or NFC.

Apple, we get it, you think you're too good to make phones out of plastic anymore. But that's the only reasonable material to use for making phones. Stop with this glass/metal nonsense that's so difficult to make that it's causing the workers to strike and start making plastic phones again. It doesn't have to be cheap glossy plastic either. Have your materials people make a nice plastic. But this nonsense has to stop.

I agreed until the plastic point. The main reason Apple specifically avoids plastic in many of its products is environmentally based. Since 2005-6, Apple has worked to lessen e-waste, a major component in the poisoning of water tables, plastic islands the size of Texas in the North Pacific and Indian Oceans from the oceanic belt and waste. There are third world countries in which the toxins from disposable electronics have been positively correlated to the increase in overall health and cancer of their populace.

Apple has utilized aluminum as it's recyclable and a natural cooling agent for electronics. They use mercury and arsenic free recyclable glass, and with the exceptions of wires and keys, have eliminated ~95% of plastics in their products.

While I do agree that plastic may be a stronger component at the moment, I would rather not pollute the world more just because I want my first world device to be indestructible.

Fact: Human beings are the only life form on the planet that produces unnatural and non-recyclable waste.

What are you talking about, these people are live in slaves. Lots of money? They make peanuts. They are poor people that don't have a choice, they are trying to feed their families and perhaps afford their families a better future. Who the hell wants to be a factory slave year round, nobody unless they have a need for it. I encourage you to travel a little more. The world outside the US is allot different than what Americans are accustomed to.


-Mike

Well stated. Thank you for some reasonable dialog.

(Mods, can you merge, don't know why it didn't automatically, sorry and thanks!)

MOD NOTE: attachments break the auto merge.

 

[Chuck-Norris]

Bring those jobs back to America, Apple. Put the people to work here who buy your products. We have a saying here, in America we have no art...we do everything as well as we can.

we could, but the prices of Apples prducts would sky rocket lol

 

[terraphantm]

That'll turn a $650 phone into a $1300 phone.

I don't know if that's necessarily true. It might turn a phone that costs $200 to manufacture in one that costs $400 to manufacture. But they wouldn't have to double the retail cost to keep making the same amount of money. It would be a lower percentage, but still the same amount in absolute terms.