Fresh Labor Violations At Factory Making “Cheap” iPhone

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At this point, I'm not sure why they bother with these reports anymore. These violations happen on a regular basis but nothing ever changes and no one really seems to care as long as we get our iDevices for cheap. :(

A new undercover investigation by China Labor Watch (CLW) has revealed a series of ethical and legal labor violations in a factory in Wuxi, China owned by U.S. electronics manufacturer Jabil Circuit that is currently producing the soon-to-be-released cheap iPhone for Apple.
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Steve said:
Imagine what they would cost if they WEREN'T made in China. :eek:
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5-12% more if made in the US. Unpaid wages and labor violations don't reduce the cost of phone manufacturing for the buyer. That money is put into the pockets of corrupt Chinese government officials and shady execs.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
5-12% more if made in the US. Unpaid wages and labor violations don't reduce the cost of phone manufacturing for the buyer. That money is put into the pockets of corrupt Chinese government officials and shady execs.
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Also transportation costs, lost sales due to lack turn around time for shipments etc. Difficulty of making changes. The only reason phones are selling at such insanely prices is subsidies via cell service. If they had to sell on the open market prices would be dramatically lower.
 
This kind of thing will not change until the nations hosting the facilities make it change. Then they will just move to some other shithole.
 
schizrade said:
This kind of thing will not change until the nations hosting the facilities make it change. Then they will just move to some other shithole.
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I think it depends on the industry ... Jabil is generally a pretty responsible company but Chinese factories are notoriously difficult to manage ... there is an element of the culture where this is expected and it is very hard to change their paradigms ... there are industries (like textiles) where low cost/low skilled labor is essential ... most industries need some level of skill and that means they will consider other elements than price

Remember that for complex electronics the Chinese situation is primarily about material suppliers ... you can get most of your materials in close proximity to your factory, thus reducing your warehouse requirements and costs and allowing more of a JIT process ... labor is typically a small part of the cost of electronics manufacturing (which is why some of that activity is moving back to the States) ;)
 
A couple of recent articles to throw at this debate..

How much more do you think it would cost to make a smartphone in the United States rather than in China? $50 per phone? $100?
Try $4. Moto X Teardown Reveals that Made in USA Costs $5 Extra
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a new study by the consulting firm AlixPartners estimates by 2015 the cost of outsourcing manufacturing to China will be equal to the cost of manufacturing in the U.S.
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Are these the same factories that nearly all other electronics manufacturers are using??? Why single out Apple?
 
Stimpy88 said:
Are these the same factories that nearly all other electronics manufacturers are using??? Why single out Apple?
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I honestly don't know why that is. Almost every Foxconn story mentions Apple repeatedly, etc. etc. I guess people would care even less if the company didn't make an iDevice?
 
Because apple is the biggest buyer from them and is the largest wealthiest company, go after the biggest one, more chance something could change...

More people know who Apple is vs Dell or HP or Asus or someone.
 
And yet workers flock to work there. I hazard to say the working conditions there are better than they would find elsewhere in China. Non story. :eek:
 
Steve said:
These violations happen on a regular basis but nothing ever changes and no one really seems to care as long as we get our iDevices for cheap. :(
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Oh, sorry about my apathy.

BRB - FIXING ALL OVERSEAS LABOR CONCERNS!
 
eh.. if dem summabitches wanna take our jobs they deserve to get violated..

DE TERK ER JERBS!!!!

MERICUH!
 
Yes cheap workers are plenty in China.
Government forces farmers off of their property to build cities and factories with little to no compensation, then they're pretty much forced in slave labor wages while China gets a boost to its economy and corrupt government officials get wads of kickback money.
If the corporations here in the US could do it, they would, because they did before unions formed and workers stood up for themselves.
 
Stimpy88 said:
Are these the same factories that nearly all other electronics manufacturers are using??? Why single out Apple?
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Because Apple and their customers have a false sense of superiority that rubs everyone the wrong way. They need a reality check once in a while to knocking them down a peg or two.
 
SGA76 said:
Yes cheap workers are plenty in China.
Government forces farmers off of their property to build cities and factories with little to no compensation, then they're pretty much forced in slave labor wages while China gets a boost to its economy and corrupt government officials get wads of kickback money.
If the corporations here in the US could do it, they would, because they did before unions formed and workers stood up for themselves.
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Slaves don't get paid, since they are slaves. Factory work in China is typically paid well above average.

As for how corrupt government and business is over there; yeah. It's not ideal.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Slaves don't get paid, since they are slaves. Factory work in China is typically paid well above average.

As for how corrupt government and business is over there; yeah. It's not ideal.
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slave labor wages is a reference to being paid just enough to keep from falling too far behind.
 
Stimpy88 said:
Are these the same factories that nearly all other electronics manufacturers are using??? Why single out Apple?
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because Americans supposedly care about things like working conditions, proper pay for hours worked, child labor laws, in what is supposed to be a American company

whether Americans "really "care about these issues is debatable
 
BryanSTG said:
Because Apple and their customers have a false sense of superiority that rubs everyone the wrong way. They need a reality check once in a while to knocking them down a peg or two.
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:rolleyes:

Yeah iPhone users tend to wave their phones in Android users' faces going "neener neener I've got an iPhone!"

How the hell did this whole "arrogance" meme get started anyways? Last I recall it was just Steve Job that was arrogant, not the users.
 
BryanSTG said:
Because Apple and their customers have a false sense of superiority that rubs everyone the wrong way. They need a reality check once in a while to knocking them down a peg or two.
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I don't know ... it seems like the Android users are the arrogant ones these days ... oooh oooh look I don't have an Apple or Windows phone like YOU losers ... I have a Samsung and my phone Rules :D ... one could argue that all the purchasers of high end electronics (that are almost exclusively manufactured in Asia) need that reality check :cool:
 
kbrickley said:
I don't know ... it seems like the Android users are the arrogant ones these days ... oooh oooh look I don't have an Apple or Windows phone like YOU losers ... I have a Samsung and my phone Rules :D ... one could argue that all the purchasers of high end electronics (that are almost exclusively manufactured in Asia) need that reality check :cool:
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1) Samsung's flagship phones are better than Apple's so it's not a false sense of superiority.

2) On the internet that anecdote is probably true, in reality Joe user loves show off his shiny over priced Apple products.
 
BryanSTG said:
Because Apple and their customers have a false sense of superiority that rubs everyone the wrong way. They need a reality check once in a while to knocking them down a peg or two.
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You act arrogant and elitist when claiming that Apple users are arrogant and elitist. Isn't that fun.
 
Insula Gilliganis said:
A couple of recent articles to throw at this debate..
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Those estimates are bullshit, of course. If they were true, manufacturing would be done in the US.

Lowest minimum wage in China: $0.78
Lowest minimum wage in US: $7.25

Oops!

...and that's just salary - forget benefits. Already those articles are crap. Sure there is shipping, but putting a few thousand/million phones on a cargo ship should not add that much to the cost.
 
Ponder said:
Also transportation costs, lost sales due to lack turn around time for shipments etc. Difficulty of making changes. The only reason phones are selling at such insanely prices is subsidies via cell service. If they had to sell on the open market prices would be dramatically lower.
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All of the "popular" high end phones are in the $600-$700 range brand new. Samsung, HTC, Apple, Motorola.
 
they sell for so much because there are so many suckers in the world willing to pay it.. supply and demand.
 
Breaking news! Factory in third world dictatorship hellhole has poor human rights record. More at eleven.
 
BryanSTG said:
1) Samsung's flagship phones are better than Apple's so it's not a false sense of superiority.

2) On the internet that anecdote is probably true, in reality Joe user loves show off his shiny over priced Apple products.
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I've only seen this rarely and when I do it's because the person is excited and not because he or she is gloating. but based on many posts on this board I suspect that socially awkward people would confuse that otherwise normal human interaction
 
Foxcon is always being pointed at for this but I would not be surprised if most Chinese factories are like this. Companies who outsource to China do not believe in humanity's well being and rather line their pockets with extra cash.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Foxcon is always being pointed at for this but I would not be surprised if most Chinese factories are like this. Companies who outsource to China do not believe in humanity's well being and rather line their pockets with extra cash.
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Luckily, the Chinese government really cares about each and every individual in their care.
 
sleepeeg3 said:
Those estimates are bullshit, of course. If they were true, manufacturing would be done in the US.

Lowest minimum wage in China: $0.78
Lowest minimum wage in US: $7.25

Oops!

...and that's just salary - forget benefits. Already those articles are crap. Sure there is shipping, but putting a few thousand/million phones on a cargo ship should not add that much to the cost.
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A few small notes.

The minimum wage in China does not reflect the wage at the factories making these parts. Their wages have gone up on a variety of occasions (usually following suicides of some kind). They aren't the highest paid but they are well above $0.78. This speaks purely of companies like Foxconn and the like though. But there is a ton of overhead when dealing with imports and corruption, so the number is still pretty much on target.

$7.25 is not the lowest wage in the US. Jobs that allow tips and farm workers do not abide by federal laws regarding minimum wage. Farm workers don't get much of any help at all actually, averages are rough to come by but they are well below poverty line most of the time.

Also, you really REALLY have no grasp on import regulations, trade laws and general shipping issues if you think it doesn't cost much to ship electronics. It's also not just a few thousand phones.
 
satsunada said:
A few small notes.

The minimum wage in China does not reflect the wage at the factories making these parts. Their wages have gone up on a variety of occasions (usually following suicides of some kind). They aren't the highest paid but they are well above $0.78. This speaks purely of companies like Foxconn and the like though. But there is a ton of overhead when dealing with imports and corruption, so the number is still pretty much on target.

$7.25 is not the lowest wage in the US. Jobs that allow tips and farm workers do not abide by federal laws regarding minimum wage. Farm workers don't get much of any help at all actually, averages are rough to come by but they are well below poverty line most of the time.

Also, you really REALLY have no grasp on import regulations, trade laws and general shipping issues if you think it doesn't cost much to ship electronics. It's also not just a few thousand phones.
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The inventory issues are also extraordinary since the quickest surface shipments by boat are about 4-5 weeks usually (and air shipments are very pricey) ... so if you have high value products the inventory costs are very high also ... most of the cost of a product is typically the materials anyway (not the labor) unless you are buying something that is handcrafted ... there are several reasons to manufacture in China but labor costs aren't necessarily the highest or most important (differing regulations on overtime and the massive industrial cities where suppliers and factories are all in close proximity are likely the dominant ones) :cool:
 
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