They've just done their sixth annual update on conditions in Apple's supply chain. Tim Cook became CEO this year.
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Tim Cook's Email to Apple Staff Regarding Supplier Responsibility Report
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They've just done their sixth annual update on conditions in Apple's supply chain. Tim Cook became CEO this year.
Apple's been releasing these reports to the public, complete with press releases, for a while now. It's not new, not even the PR angle.
Is that why Ford Rangers are so expensive? Toyota has assembly plants here in the USA. Why can't Apple?
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My point is Ford assembles their product here, along with many other companies. Why doesn't Apple open more factories here like an American company should do?
I'll tell you why. GREED! That is why America is dying and all the jobs are being outsourced to China.
China, forget our debt we owe you... Just take Apple.
Kudos
I've seen the Mike Daisy performance that became the basis for the recent This American Life piece. I am confident that Apple is no worse than any other tech company, and probably better than most, but I am still very glad to see them moving on this front. I'm sure they a ways to go -- and if you doubt that they do you owe it to yourself to give the Daisy program a listen -- but, again, this is the right direction and the right thing for a company like Apple -- which has always been about more than just the bottom line -- to do.
I've seen the Mike Daisy performance that became the basis for the recent This American Life piece. I am confident that Apple is no worse than any other tech company, and probably better than most, but I am still very glad to see them moving on this front. I'm sure they a ways to go -- and if you doubt that they do you owe it to yourself to give the Daisy program a listen -- but, again, this is the right direction and the right thing for a company like Apple -- which has always been about more than just the bottom line -- to do.
I was going to state the obvious - but someone already has:
And the next guy makes me happy to see gun control laws:
Because Toyota is, in fact, an "assembler". Apple is not. It's just not part of their business model, just like fast food franchises are not part of their business model.
You want Apple to start up a new business, building their own factories and hiring union (I'm pro union) plant workers starting at around $24 hr.
Yes; be prepared to pay $1500 for your iphone while Dell, Sony, Samsung, and every other electronics manufacturer on the planet roll on the floor with laughter as Apple "literally" goes out of business.
Tip: don't be such a naive fool.
Here is the link to a very interesting radio piece regarding a journalist who traveled to China and checked out the Foxcon factory there. Pretty uncool how they're treating their workers, even though it seems to be the norm for many operations over there.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory
Recently I took a tour of harbor/shipping facilities in NJ/NY and was told that with the efficiency of modern shipping it costs 2 cents to ship a phone from China to the States. Virtually nothing. So, yes, on one level greed, but that's the math.
Apple will be a better company if they actually follow through with this. Suppliers like Foxconn are little more than a slave labor camp.
Can you imagine any building needing to install nets around it because of a large amount of employees jumping off the building to bring attention to their plight? There would be outrage.
Can you imagine any building needing to install nets around it because of a large amount of employees jumping off the building to bring attention to their plight? There would be outrage.
Apple is not an "assembler"? Screw the unions, people will work for far less than $24/hr here in the US
"Assembled in the USA" is on the bottom of my Mac Pro from 2008. Seen 2009 and 2010 models that say the same, and some iMac boxes as well.
It varies. Some manufacturing happens here too, Samsung has a large plant near Austin, TX. It was never fully confirmed, but assumed they are building the A5 processors there.
It's like at my work, when an Auditor, Health & Safety inspector or my bosses boss comes in.....they somehow know it's going to happen, so a day or two before we're told to 'hide everything!' - big piles of damages, with leaking milk or detergent etc we're told to mop up and make sure nothing like that is showing...as soon as the inspection is over, its back to normal...
Ummmm....here's an idea Apple: build your products in AMERICA. Sure, the cost will be higher than overseas but you won't have to worry about underage (child) workers...won't have to worry about people living in slums or dormitories. You won't have to set up an Apple Team to have them monitor all this garbage (in fact there are USA government institutions that monitor/inspect with no cost to Apple). You won't have to spend millions of dollars on all this monitoring (salaries, flights/trips/travel expenses). And by employing Americans, you help OUR economy even more...and you get to brag about it to the USA in general...and you get to set an example of "hey, if we can employee Americans, so can you!"
This Apple monitoring is such a load of bull. Apple truly doesn't care about all those items because if Apple did, Apple would build in the USA. Period. The USA doesn't allow for all the violations/conditions that Apple is hunting for. This is why it COSTS MORE to employee folks in the USA...because the USA doesn't allow child labor and folks to live in "dormitories" and other nonsense.
This Apple monitoring is such a load of bull. Apple truly doesn't care about all those items because if Apple did, Apple would build in the USA. Period. The USA doesn't allow for all the violations/conditions that Apple is hunting for. This is why it COSTS MORE to employee folks in the USA...because the USA doesn't allow child labor and folks to live in "dormitories" and other nonsense.
I live in Austin, but everytime I order anything from Apple it gets shipped out of China. I love my Apple products, but if you have to worry about working conditions and illegal labor... something just isn't right.
Why all the kudos? Do you Timmy-Cee woke up one day and suddenly decided to care about working conditions?
It's all damage control. All expected. No surprise here.
It's all damage control. All expected. No surprise here.
It's not that easy (although almost everyone thinks it is)
To the person who quoted about the Ford rangers.. do note that Ford was given tens of billions of dollars by the Feds to stay afloat. It doesn't make any business sense.
1. When you hire a worker in the US, you don't just pay salary. You pay insurance, benefits, etc. On top of that, the business has to have substantial insurance to protect themselves from lawsuits (most of which are frivolous these days) What happens when the cost of insurance and benefits goes up?
2. The average consumer wants to see reduced pricing every 2-3 years. I see people beat their chest all the time and tell everyone to buy "American" .. yet the same people will buy a chinese blender for $20 instead of an American one for $55.
Combine the two points and you really have a tight situation.
I couldn't agree more! America is dying because corporations are taking the greedy route to China and other places where people make 2 cents a day.
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You can justify the price all you want, but if you are sending your jobs to another country you are Selling Out Your Country. Start doing more work here in the USA.
This is all PR.
Apple has been known to squeeze the profit margins of the suppliers. The assembly cost of each apple product is tiny compared to the price of the product.
If you want the suppliers to treat their employees better, starting paying the suppliers better. Look at Foxcoon. Their gross margin is not all that high and if they increase any more employee costs, they might actually lose money.
On the other hand, look at how much Apple makes on each IOS device..
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I am not American, and I am not willing to pay $200 for an Apple product so that it is "made in the USA).
Hell even most Americans would refuse to do the same.
Apple has been known to squeeze the profit margins of the suppliers. The assembly cost of each apple product is tiny compared to the price of the product.
If you want the suppliers to treat their employees better, starting paying the suppliers better. Look at Foxcoon. Their gross margin is not all that high and if they increase any more employee costs, they might actually lose money.
On the other hand, look at how much Apple makes on each IOS device..
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I am not American, and I am not willing to pay $200 for an Apple product so that it is "made in the USA).
Hell even most Americans would refuse to do the same.
This is all PR.
Apple has been known to squeeze the profit margins of the suppliers. The assembly cost of each apple product is tiny compared to the price of the product.
If you want the suppliers to treat their employees better, starting paying the suppliers better. Look at Foxcoon. Their gross margin is not all that high and if they increase any more employee costs, they might actually lose money.
On the other hand, look at how much Apple makes on each IOS device..
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I am not American, and I am not willing to pay $200 for an Apple product so that it is "made in the USA).
Hell even most Americans would refuse to do the same.
You shouldn't have to pay a premium because it was made in the USA. We shouldn't be doing business with countries who do not offer fair wages.
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Why do all this effort to prove the workers are being treated good?
Don't they manufacture in china so they don't have to pay the workers well and don't have to worry about great living conditions.
It's pretty sad that is cheaper to have Chinese workers make a product than to have robots do it.
If they are that worried about the living conditions and pay, why are they making the products in china in the first place?
Why do all this effort to prove the workers are being treated good?
Don't they manufacture in china so they don't have to pay the workers well and don't have to worry about great living conditions.
It's pretty sad that is cheaper to have Chinese workers make a product than to have robots do it.
If they are that worried about the living conditions and pay, why are they making the products in china in the first place?
As others have said, Apple was doing this long before TC became CEO. I'll try to add to the conversation by linking to the actual reports.
From http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/reports.html#moreinfo
Historical Reports
These reports provide information on our program and audit results from prior years.
2011 Progress Report (PDF) http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2011_Progress_Report.pdf
2010 Progress Report (PDF) http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2010_Progress_Report.pdf
2009 Progress Report (PDF) http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2009_Progress_Report.pdf
2008 Progress Report (PDF) http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2008_Progress_Report.pdf
2007 Progress Report (PDF) http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2007_Progress_Report.pdf
I seriously doubt this is for PR.
Rather, I say three cheers to Tim Cook for proving he is bringing Apple back in balance. Although I'm sure it's true that this has been in the works for some time, Tim is the one that made sure to make it public. He's the one that will take Apple's reputation & polish it further. Demonstrating that Apple does care and is determined to be less secretive. Everything about this bodes well for Apples image.
Reading this, instead of another announcement about some wiz-bang product that's going to change the world, is the best predictor of a solid future as Cook brings Apple the balance many have missed.
Rather, I say three cheers to Tim Cook for proving he is bringing Apple back in balance. Although I'm sure it's true that this has been in the works for some time, Tim is the one that made sure to make it public. He's the one that will take Apple's reputation & polish it further. Demonstrating that Apple does care and is determined to be less secretive. Everything about this bodes well for Apples image.
Reading this, instead of another announcement about some wiz-bang product that's going to change the world, is the best predictor of a solid future as Cook brings Apple the balance many have missed.