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

ValSalva said:
Who knows the context the worker released this information? This person might have thought it was confidential and that Pegatron sanctioned it.

Just because jobs are hard to find does not give employers license to abuse employees.

Apple is a corporation. One that most of us like. But an individual's life should be more important than even the most powerful corporation.
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Exactly how were they being abused? I attempted to download that 60 page document but I was not about to read all of that. Were they being beaten down, tied up and never allowed to go home, then only let loose during work time? Maybe you have the job from heaven and the perfect boss or maybe you work for yourself and your work life is great but that's not reality for most.
Many companies have bosses that are extremely difficult and hard on employees which is the main reason so many people hate their jobs.

These workers in Apple's factories better be happy they have a job, period. You wanting to keep their identity secret for leaking information and referring to them as "poor employees" for being "abused" is just plain nonsensical. Those "poor employees" can certainly relieve themselves from Apple's "abuse" and find another job too. Ever thought of that? ;)
 
Ryth said:
LG Yep. Oppo nope. Don't confuse your arrogance for knowledge.
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Actually, I think you're confusing my opinion for arrogance, but your lack of knowledge can surely be taken as just that--not knowing what you're talking about.

Use a few more Android devices (Nexus 4 & 7, LG Optimus G Pro, Moto Razr series, Sony Xperia Z, Huawei Ascend P6, etc.). You'll be surprised.
 
The leaks I think at this point are definitely conclusive. There will be a plastic iPhone, and it may be cheaper as a result. I am thinking no less than $299, though more realistically it will be $399.

Though I also feel that at $299 it kills the second hand market for used headsets, unless it has some serious crippling done to it.
 
cleanup said:
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.
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Excuse me, but if Apple found that Pegatron deliberately hired kids under 16, there would be hell to pay for Pegatron. Apple _has_ cancelled contracts for that reason. Let's assume that you use "kids" to describe people from 16 to 25.

Working 12 hours a day doesn't make it cheaper; I'd rather pay three people eight hours wages each and have them do the job while fresh than paying two people twelve hours wages each and have them mess up because they fall asleep. That's what any reasonable company would do. (There are of course companies that are run by idiots who have a hiring stop to save money and then spend twice the savings on overtime).

And from what we know at Foxconn, wages are not "pennies on the hour". They are a lot lower than where you live, but living costs are also a lot lower.
 
I advice you to read the PDF document in the first post about workers condition. This resulted more interesting that the quote for the plastic iPhone.
 
HenryDJP said:
As much as these leaks can be "fun" for many of us here I have to say I don't really appreciate all these trade secrets coming out like this. Leaking the plastic body is one thing but the multiple colors is just rude. Since the new iPhone hasn't been released or announced yet this gives Samsung a chance to copy. I liked it better when nobody knew what Apple was doing and only minimal "supposed leaks" were out on the web.
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Nobody has ever thought to do colors before!!!
 
I don't believe that quote. The transparent film applied for transit, the one that is still on when you take it out of the box, may be applied by hand (just maybe), but surely the layer to cover it during assembly is applied automatically as it comes from the mould (if, indeed, it's not on the plastic before it's even shaped, depending on the process).
 
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).
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Sure, if it was manufactured in the US. In China, people are cheaper than robots.
 
Mad Mac Maniac said:
I don't know why everybody is always hating on the plastic. It's honestly a more suitable material for a phone. A device that is always being dropped, scratched, etc. Plus the fact that majority of people (based on personal observation) use a case anyway. And now you also get to throw your own personalized color, without needing to buy a case? Oh and also can make the device up to $100 cheaper? Where do I sign?
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I agree and thanks for putting some though in your response. I own the 5 and hate that I have to carry it around like an egg. Aluminum was probably the worst material choice for a phone. Sure it's pretty...
 
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.
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Surely you can't take issue with the description "poor employees"? Just because a choice betwixt two unpleasant situations exists doesn't stop someone being in a crappy position and deserving of our sympathy.
 
Gregintosh said:
The leaks I think at this point are definitely conclusive. There will be a plastic iPhone, and it may be cheaper as a result. I am thinking no less than $299, though more realistically it will be $399.

Though I also feel that at $299 it kills the second hand market for used headsets, unless it has some serious crippling done to it.
Click to expand...

It is quite possible the second hand market will take a hit with this; however, there were other speculations going around that the internals would likely be from the 4S. My understanding is that there will be some downgrade in specs.
 
inlinevolvo said:
It is quite possible the second hand market will take a hit with this; however, there were other speculations going around that the internals would likely be from the 4S. My understanding is that there will be some downgrade in specs.
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They couldn't call it the iPhone 5C and then put 4s spec in it...
 
HenryDJP said:
Exactly how were they being abused? I attempted to download that 60 page document but I was not about to read all of that. Were they being beaten down, tied up and never allowed to go home, then only let loose during work time? Maybe you have the job from heaven and the perfect boss or maybe you work for yourself and your work life is great but that's not reality for most.
Many companies have bosses that are extremely difficult and hard on employees which is the main reason so many people hate their jobs.

These workers in Apple's factories better be happy they have a job, period. You wanting to keep their identity secret for leaking information and referring to them as "poor employees" for being "abused" is just plain nonsensical. Those "poor employees" can certainly relieve themselves from Apple's "abuse" and find another job too. Ever thought of that? ;)
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Poor working conditions are endemic in Chinese factories. Pegatron and probably most of the suppliers to Apple are thought to be among the better ones in China. But poor working conditions still exist. It's documented and not hard to find.

I don't consider myself a bleeding heart liberal and am not about to boycott Apple products.

Everyone has a choice about where they work. But in the USA we are lucky to have a wider range of choices and more established rights. But if you can't have any sympathy for someone in a poor country trying to provide for their family then heaven help you.
 
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).
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It wil be, these are test units.

BUT, it is already clear that we will see a lot of whining about scratches.

If I were Apple I'd put a pattern on the back that looks like scratches!

Every day use without a case will make these look like matte iPhones eventually.
 
neverhadanewton said:
They couldn't call it the iPhone 5C and then put 4s spec in it...
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it will be the current iPhone 5's chips... meaning the A6 (although it could certainly be a single core A6 instead of a dual core). Meanwhile the iPhone 5S will be released alongside it with the new A7 chip and whatever fanciness comes along with it.

This will also signal the end of having to manufacture the very pricy housing of the iPhone 4 and 4S, which despite being old tech, the stainless steel band and dual gorilla glass front and back are still very expensive to produce, despite Apple being forced to sell them at a discounted price. The move to a plastic iPhone model can finally bring much higher profit margins to the iPhone line by a clever repackaging of last-gen tech.

The fancy metal and glass of the traditional iPhone is.... by a huge margin... the main cost of components in the iPhone after the screen. expect the iPhone 4 AND the iPhone 4S to be discontinued when the new iPhone 5C and 5S is released in September. The iPhone 5 will stay around as the fancy black or white version of the iPhone 5C.... which is why the possibility that the 5C will have a single core A6 to further differenciate it from the current 5 is a real possibility.
 
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okwhatev said:
it will be the current iPhone 5's chips... meaning the A6 (although it could certainly be a single core A6 instead of a dual core). Meanwhile the iPhone 5S will be released alongside it with the new A7 chip and whatever fanciness comes along with it.
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It won't be single core.
 
neuropsychguy said:
I hope the back case costs less than that to produce! $20 for a polycarbonate case would be pricey.
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That's what's so shocking about these designs.

When they say plastic, they meant the cheapest plastic they could find!

These are dirt cheap.
 
IGregory said:
Please, don't be so pompous. Just because you can afford top shelf does mean everyone can. The plastic phone is aimed at those who might not be as financially fortunate as yourself.
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True. But we've seen better plastic designs especially by Apple in the past, right?
 
Double down on security, Tim? .....

It shows one thing. Apple does not have his hands on these reports. So they are real whatever they say..
 
gnasher729 said:
Excuse me, but if Apple found that Pegatron deliberately hired kids under 16, there would be hell to pay for Pegatron. Apple _has_ cancelled contracts for that reason. Let's assume that you use "kids" to describe people from 16 to 25.

Working 12 hours a day doesn't make it cheaper; I'd rather pay three people eight hours wages each and have them do the job while fresh than paying two people twelve hours wages each and have them mess up because they fall asleep. That's what any reasonable company would do. (There are of course companies that are run by idiots who have a hiring stop to save money and then spend twice the savings on overtime).

And from what we know at Foxconn, wages are not "pennies on the hour". They are a lot lower than where you live, but living costs are also a lot lower.
Click to expand...

Pardon my hyperbole. It was just to make a point. Not sure why you're talking about Apple; in no way did I criticise them. I merely criticised the perspective people take on things like this--I understand we're on an Apple-interest website but sometimes it's laughable.

You don't need to lecture me on the dynamics of Chinese manufacturing. I visit China annually (I'm in Changsha right now actually) and my father's family manufactures shotcrete equipment here. "Reasonable" is defined far differently here, for most things labour.
 
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