Apple’s iPhone X Assembled by Illegal Student Labor

Megalith

Megalith

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Apple’s main supplier in Asia has been employing students illegally working overtime to assemble the iPhone X, as it struggles to catch up with demand after production delays. Six high school students told the Financial Times they routinely work 11-hour days assembling the iPhone X at a factory in Zhengzhou, China, which constitutes illegal overtime for student interns under Chinese law.

The students, aged 17 to 19, said they were told that a three-month stint at the factory was required “work experience” that they had to complete in order to graduate. “We are being forced by our school to work here,” said Ms. Yang, an 18-year-old student training to be a train attendant who declined to use her first name for fear of punishment. “The work has nothing to do with our studies.” She said she assembled up to 1,200 iPhone X cameras a day.
 
I can hear the human rights activists lighting the torches and preparing for an all-out assualt on the media as they scream in one voice, "What about the children!?!?!",....all the while waving their iPhones in the air.
 
And people will still buy Apple stuff, supporting such behavior with their dollars. Just one of the many reasons I don't own Apple products. I also try to avoid any other products I see such reports about. Just like any other abuser, if they don't suffer consequences they will never think twice about their actions( not specifically Apple, but if people stop buying Apple products then the companies working for Apple will lose money, and Apple will too unless they switch to another supplier)
 
This won't stop a single person that was planning to buy this phone (and I mean actually planning/counting the days until they can buy it) from purchasing it.

1. "YES TODAY IS THE DAY I GET MY IPHONE X!"

2. "Did you know students were labored and exploited illegally in China to make this phone just so you can pay $1000 you buy it?"

1. "Oh damn that's terrible...do you have them in gold?"
 
It is not that they (the Apple fanbois) support child slavery/labor, it is they will deny it really is happening. They usually explain it away by saying it is a conspiracy, by Apple haters, to propagate anything which would show Apple in a negative light.

I know this from first hand experience with various members of my family. Personally, I will never own an Apple product. It does not matter if they are the best thing since sliced bread. I abhor the companies policies and the manner in which they do business.

While every large coporation has its warts, Apple seems very content to ride the backs of children on its way to having more cash on hand than any other company in the world. I find it despicable.
 
so china uses conscript high school kids for cheap labor. we complain. we use conscript prisoners for cheap labor... *crickets*
 
But Apple isn't the only company that uses China to manufacture their products, lots of companies do so as well including Samsung, LG, and HTC. Face it people, all of our major technology toys including even our notebook PCs, tablets, and desktop computer components are made in China and more than likely made by people making slave wages. But since it's Apple people jump up and scream. When it's Samsung or others there's... *crickets*
 
*smashes the cricket*

The problem is, we only give it a good tongue lashing and nothing changes. All Apple has to do is put out another artsy-fartsy ad/marketing campaign and everyone will go "oooh-ahhhh" and the status quo will be preserved. ta-da!

I am more than happy to jump up and down while ranting, regardless of the company, but would prefer proof over a, "Well, they do it and no one complains" statement.
 
Sigh. So I'll continue to be part of the problem rather than the solution. I only trust my iPhone to be assembled in China though. If it ever moves here to the states like Foxconn would like to and assembled here then that might finally break me out of the Apple ecosystem.
 
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BSmith , Samsung is guilty of the same marketing plans. Turn the TV on sometime and watch the commercials, some of Samsung's commercials seem like blatant Apple ripoffs.
 
People on this site that say this is the reason why they don’t buy apple products are just stupid. What happened to this site?? You think no one else is guilty of this? Get rid of 95% of your electronics then. Just another reason for hardocp users to bash Apple and have no idea what they are talking about
 
cyclone3d said:
Cue the feigned outrage by Apple until people forget about it.
Click to expand...
*nod*

"You've got to be kidding me! I can't believe that Apple would again do such a thing, after the reports from years ago. People should stop buying iPhones until they put an end to these practices.

Sent from my iPhone X"

*eyeroll*
 
trparky said:
BSmith , Samsung is guilty of the same marketing plans. Turn the TV on sometime and watch the commercials, some of Samsung's commercials seem like blatant Apple ripoffs.
Click to expand...

Oh, I am not naive.

There is more than a fair chance if it is built in China (no matter the product) there is probably some type of humanitarian ethos being violated.

One can say Apple gets picked on because they are a large company, and that is probably not far off the mark. It is Apple's response to thise allegations which chaps my tush. As a matter of principle, I will not do business with them.

No matter what I sound like, I am not really an Apple hater. I think they are overpriced for what they offer and I think they have the best damn marketing teams of any company in the world.
 
Devaluation of labor, artificially forced low wages, outlawing worker representation. I'm disgusted that it's even legal for first world corporations to do business in a place like that. Not to mention the total lack of control over pollution in places like that.
 
Most people don't give a shit about the conditions of the people making their stuff. Oh, a lot of them talk about it and how horrible it is and that the companies shouldn't do it ... but it doesn't stop them from buying products. Same folks bitch about WalMart killing local stores but don't have any issue shopping at WalMart. People want the best they can get for the cheapest price and if that means a kid is making the stuff and a Mom and Pop is run out of business then they're fine with that.

People vote with their wallets, period. And, we're all (or mostly all) guilty of it. We're all using computers with Chinese made stuff inside them so just the nature of us reading these forums means we're complicit in the whole deal. Even if iPhones start getting assembled in America at some point in the future the components aren't all coming from there. We're all guilty, we just don't want it shoved in our face while we're buying stuff.
 
Not a surprise that iphones made in china is made by students or child labor. But let's be realistic here. 80% of the finished electronic goods we buy is made in china... by these same students/children. Another 15% is made in other countries with equally cheap labor and dodgy human rights. The last 5% is made in factories that actually give a shit about the people making their products.

This has been the big business model in regards to manufacturing for the last 50 years that pretty much started in Japan. Different decade, same crap with the same lack of care who it really affects. As long as we get our toys cheap.
 
What do you want to do? Pay $1200 instead of $1000 so a Chinese worker gets an extra bowl of rice? There is no viable alternative to Foxconn manufacturing. Robotics and AI are nowhere near to the point where they can even replace your typical line worker at a rate that is cost-effective.
 
Anything you buy from China (and many other countries around the world) could have child labor involved. We keep buying the shit because its so much cheaper. Until we stop buying stuff from China, they are not going to change.
My favorite coffee is picked by young children. Their fingers are delicate and do not crush the beans like adult fingers. (Bad joke on my part, but children are involved in agriculture labor as well.)
 
Move the manufacturing to the US, then. We have better workers rights. It'll bring the cost up quite a bit, as they will be paid better with better benefits and working conditions.

Don't want to pay more than $1K for your iPhone X? Then deal with the shitty Chinese workers rights and forced student labor.

People want good working conditions, but they don't want to pay more for it. People want others to earn $15 minimum wage, but they don't want to pay more for the end product. People want people treated better, they just don't want to pay for it.
 
cyclone3d said:
Cue the feigned outrage by Apple until people forget about it.
Click to expand...

It won't be feigned. They will be genuinely outraged that Foxcon is making them look bad, and they will likely demand that Foxcon draft more student interns rather than force the existing ones to work illegal overtime.
 
TFA is paywalled.

We pretty much knew this was happening...if it’s electronics you can asssume you’re affected. Electronics are the new Nikes...
 
katanaD said:
so china uses conscript high school kids for cheap labor. we complain. we use conscript prisoners for cheap labor... *crickets*
Click to expand...

We are paying upwards of 40k a year for housing/food/schooling/entertainment of said prisoners. They very well better be made to work.

Or would you rather they just be released from prison into the general population so they can rob/rape/murder you?
 
So happy up to $3 billion of my state tax dollars will be going to these people. Apparently sports stadiums/arenas and Chinese sweat shops are top priority here in SE Wisconsin. (y)
 
cyclone3d said:
We are paying upwards of 40k a year for housing/food/schooling/entertainment of said prisoners. They very well better be made to work.

Or would you rather they just be released from prison into the general population so they can rob/rape/murder you?
Click to expand...

Aren't most prisoners in America in there for possession of marijuana?
Aren't most prisons privately owned and profit off of tax payer money by having lots of prisoners in there?
 
MrDeaf said:
Aren't most prisoners in America in there for possession of marijuana?
Click to expand...

lol, you don't go to prison for possession of marijuana.


On topic: I feel sorry for those school children. They should have a revolution and break their shackles.
 
They did this with the ps4 too.

This isn't new and i am certain the school gets a kickback.
 
MrDeaf said:
Aren't most prisoners in America in there for possession of marijuana?
Aren't most prisons privately owned and profit off of tax payer money by having lots of prisoners in there?
Click to expand...

Do you have a source for this or did you just make it up?
 
I do not mean to devalue this accusation, but getting students to work for free and make money off of that work is kind of a universal exploitation across many many industries throughout the world.

It's not something people think about, but it is very common.
 
trparky said:
What do you expect from a country that has repeatedly shown that they have no regard for human life or basic rights? China would make Quark and other Ferengis quite proud.
Click to expand...

Some of the best Liveleak vids come from China!
 
BSmith said:
I can hear the human rights activists lighting the torches and preparing for an all-out assualt on the media as they scream in one voice, "What about the children!?!?!",....all the while waving their iPhones in the air.
Click to expand...
Crickets.
 
I doubt this is a false news. Otherwise, these students are attending a sort of vocational and technical school. Those schools do need a three to six-month social practice before graduating.
 
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