Apple, Foxconn set new standard for Chinese workers

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

It is a response to one of the largest investigations ever conducted of a U.S. company's operations outside of America. Apple had agreed to the probe by the independent Fair Labor Association (FLA) to stem a crescendo of criticism that its products were built on the backs of mistreated Chinese workers. The association, in disclosing its findings from a survey of three Foxconn plants and over 35,000 workers, said it had unearthed multiple violations of labor law, including extreme hours and unpaid overtime.

FLA President Auret van Heerden expects the agreement between Apple, the world's most valuable listed company, and Foxconn, which supplies 50 percent of the world's consumer electronics, to have far reaching affects. "Apple and Foxconn are obviously the two biggest players in this sector," he said in an interview. "Since they're teaming up to drive this change, I really do think they set the bar for the rest of the sector."

That could affect brand names that have contracts with the Taiwanese company, including Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard, Amazon.com Inc, Motorola Mobility Holdings, Nokia Oyj and Sony Corp. The agreement is a sign of the increasing power of Chinese workers to command higher wages given increasing prices in China, and an ageing workforce that has led to labor shortages.

"Foxconn is proposing this better deal," said van Heerden. "Their competitors will be obliged to offer a similar package just in order to get enough workers." Working conditions at many Chinese factories supplying Western brands are considerably inferior to those at Foxconn, experts say.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-foxconn-revamp-china-conditions-011913053.html

[GeorgeGist]

1. How many Americans know that Foxconn is not a Chinese company?

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It's Taiwanese.

[Orrex]

2. According to the NPR piece this morning...

Apple is very good at setting standards but is extremely weak about living up to them. They've apparently been setting these same "standards" for six years or more.

If only the company had a few billion in cash sitting around. If only!

Then maybe they'd be able to invest in improving conditions for the workers that actually produce those must-have Apple devices.

[onehandle]

3. Six years? Funny, they joined FLA 3 months ago. Unlike Samsung, Dell, HP, Asus, Google, Amazon...

...Microsoft, Intel, Sony...Or whatever you posted that on.

Apple is the only tech company trying to make a difference.

Read the article. Improving workers working conditions and wages is what this is all about.

[Orrex]

4. No one said that they joined the FLA six years ago.

Not sure where you came up with that, but ok.

I'll believe that Apple is trying to make a difference when they've made a difference. Until then, they employ slave labor just like any other tech firm.

I'm not excusing other companies for doing so, but I'm certainly not going to give Apple a pass just because they've once again claimed that they're going to do something about it.


They talk about taking a year or more to implement the necessary changes. Well, here's something they can put into practice this afternoon: pay the employees an actual living wage. Revolutionary, I know.

If only the innovative thinkers at Apple could come up with such a radical approach!

[OhioChick]

7. Well Said and Agreed

[Skittles]

5. LOLOLOL

APPLE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

[LiberalLovinLug]

8. Brilliant response!

...about the one computer company that consistently tops consumer satisfaction charts.



I say good on them for doing the right thing. Dragging kicking and screaming all the other PC and electronics makers with them.

[ChromeFoundry]

9. Deceptive charting

If you chart this exact data on a y-axis of 0-100, it looks MUCH less impressive.

[Pholus]

10. Awesome breaking of the "reality distortion field"

Tufte for the win!

[Skittles]

12. THANK YA CHROME!!!

Also if you factored in the APPLE CULTISTS....well then....

[joshcryer]

13. Nice.

[LiberalLovinLug]

15. Nice work but you should have gone for the 0 - 1000

Did you hand draw that up just to NOT disprove anything?

That's the way I got it from a website. Good for you if you have the time to redraw it. Your re-interpreting still doesn't discount the facts. And does nothing to support the notion that "Apple sucks!"

Besides customer satisfaction there is mobile OS satisfaction:



Then there is main computer OS satisfaction:



I could go on. But Apple haters already seem to have made up their minds. Your loss.

Funny to hear the PC cheering section when no one ever addressed the point, that Apple is once again ahead of the pack...this time in attempting to change working conditions for overseas workers.

[ChromeFoundry]

16. Seriously, 0-1000?

My graph was scaled from 0-100 because it is a customer satisfaction "PERCENTAGE".
What would 1000% satisfaction even mean? That's like saying I give 110% every day at my job! If you think that is possible, then you should probably stop reading now because you are just going to get mad because you don't understand the topic.

My response to you was pointing out the fact that the graph you posted gives the appearance that Apple has nearly double any other hardware manufacturer's satisfied customers. And that simply is not true. My graph used the same numbers from the source you posted, but scaled it on the full range of the scale (that's 0% to 100% if your attention span has been compromised).

[div class='excerpt']Did you hand draw that up just to NOT disprove anything?
If your Apple product came installed with any spreadsheet software, you'd know that charting a few numbers takes about 30 seconds.

[div class='excerpt']That's the way I got it from a website. Good for you if you have the time to redraw it. Your re-interpreting still doesn't discount the facts. And does nothing to support the notion that "Apple sucks!"
I don't recall making any statement even close to that. I think they make a quality, very over-priced product; but that has nothing to do with the point of my post. If you are happy with your Mac, that's great. I like to build my own hardware to suit my needs. I really don't care how pretty a server that sits in my basement is, and I could care less how impressed others are with how thin my notebook computer is. Do you buy your vehicles using the same methodology as you do for computers? - pay double for something because of the name on it? The funny thing about Apple is that they use the same components as every other PC maker uses... so I guess you are just happy with the software they write that will only run on their licensed hardware.

When you say "PC cheering section", are you meaning Windows only or are you including Linux and UNIX in that group? Did you know that OS X is actually built largely off of BSD UNIX? Or don't you go into the shell very often on your Mac? So, in other words, the OS has been built off of something that was given away for free by Berkley.

To clear things up, I'll offer this:
Glass is flat.
Look at it under extreme magnification, you'll see that at a molecular level...it's not flat at all.

The funny part about the new graphs you posted is that they offer no statistical data. Is this based off of the same number of individuals? Windows XP is not even a supported product any more... it's like me putting up a graph of MacOS version 7 users. The data is 4 years old! I'm just not quite sure where you are going with this argument. Do you need to prove that your purchase is justifiable to others? Honestly, if you are happy with your Mac, great! Why should you feel the need to force it down others throats? Do you do that for all of your beliefs? I'm just trying to keep the perspective honest, and deceptive charting is not honest because most people don't look at the scale and marketing groups KNOW this!

[Skittles]

17. it's called PIMPING FOR APPLE

yes INDEED

[LiberalLovinLug]

18. Me thinks thou doest protest too much

I don't recall making any statement even close to that.

I did not say you said that but you jumped in as a third party in support of someone who gave the brilliant observation that "Apple Sucks!", so you have to own it as well. I was only reacting to this juvenile statement.

Do you buy your vehicles using the same methodology as you do for computers?

If you mean buy the best quality that you can afford at the time then yes. But cars are a whole other level of finance so what I can afford isn't the best. If I could afford it, I'd spend twice as much for a vehicle that will give me four times the payback in reliability, comfort, safety, and performance and keeps its value twice as long. A car that is not infested with bugs and nagging safey probes and warnings and subject to attacks from outside parties. I'd rather spend my time getting from point A to point B in a safe, smooth and comfortable manner and not have to worry about anything. With the clearest windscreen and quickest response not to mention the creative music and other programing built in.

I actually CAN apply that principle to computers. Even if I have to save my $ a little longer. To me a computer is a tool. For entertainment, news, interaction with others, and work. Its really the most important tool in my life. Some items I don't worry about finding the best...I can buy duct tape in a dollar store that is a little thinner but basically does the same job as the hardware store version at half the cost. But for this important tool I will buy the best, the brand that allows me to get the most work done with the least amount of headache. (I've used both platforms)

As far as the dates of the charts. It only proves that Apple has long led in those categories. If you want an up to date version how about this story from MSNBC tech page: Apple No. 1 in customer satisfaction for 8th year: report

Anyways I did not start this, I am only reacting to the silly one liner above, that you jumped in to defend. Hey if you can build your own then good for you, I can see your reasons in that case. But most people want one already built for them and will use it out of the box. That's the customer I am, but I respect tech geeks that have the time and where-with-all to do it themselves.

[ChromeFoundry]

21. My response was directly to you and your post.

I did not make any reference to any statements up-thread, in agreement or disagreement. I was merely pointing out that the data YOU posted was deceptive. You were the one that got defensive and tried to correlate outdated statistics that had no range of scientific analysis for backing.

If you would like to understand why Apple users are more satisfied with their purchase, it could very well be argued that Apple consumers pay more for their products and are therefore more susceptible to follow Cognitive Dissonance Theory. When a consumer pays more for something, they tend to justify without reason that the product is superior to a lower priced alternative without ever being a user of the lower priced product.

If you don't want to learn how to change your own oil, or educate yourself on proper security measures to be taken when operating your equipment, you are in no position to fault the product for the faults that were caused by your action or lack there of. The information is there and readily available to educate yourself. If you choose not to educate yourself and are willing to pay the higher tax for the vote you cast, or lose an eye because you don't wear safety glasses, that is your right. But it is not you right to pass judgement on others for things they never stated.

[LiberalLovinLug]

22. Sorry, but it seemed like you were stepping in

Someone ignorantly IMO states "Apple Sucks!"

So I put up a chart that was released by The American Customer Satisfaction Index (the way they released it) to prove him wrong.

I could understand that the full 1 - 100 % was not drawn up. I assumed anyone else could as well. For you to redraw it and post it as a response, forgive me if I took that as backing up Skittles ridiculous assertion. He/She certainly took it that way.

And really? You think over the last eight years, all those satisfied customers are only satisfied because they paid more than someone buying a very basic PC? Now you're reaching.

If I have enough to buy a Swiss Army Knife model with a lot of options and I notice someone else on a camping trip has some inferior Chinese made knockoff, that doesn't effect how much real value mine has to me. I might feel sorry for the guy when I notice him struggle with pulling out a blade, or have trouble cutting, or is missing a corkscrew etc... and I'd be happy I could afford to shell out for the more quality version. But the simple fact that I paid more for it, is not why I like my knife. Its because it works well, stays sharp, and is useful to me. At any given moment when I need to flip a blade out and cut something, believe me I am not thinking how much I paid for it. That's in the past. I only enjoy that moment of a tactile experience of cutting through a stick or whatever.

I don't know how to build my own computer, and I don't really want to. Just like you said with oil changes. I used to do it myself all the time, but now I find my time is more valuable to me so I take it to Mr. Lube. I am like 95% of all computer users in that I just want it to run properly right out of the box. I am a little envious of you being able to build one...good for you, I mean that.
Cheers.

[Pholus]

11. Yes, as part of a deal to try to get China to respect its IP more.

Although I gotta say....I might just buy one of the APeds for a lark.

They seem nice and they're half the cost even after paying off the smuggler.

[sudopod]

6. Hey, look, I can bold things too.

Some people have an unhealthy fascination with consumer electronics, experts say.

[JCMach1]

14. Obviously Apple can afford PR at any cost

Don't believe the hype... the workers will be only slightly less exploited.

[Fearless]

20. At least until the light gets shown on another company and they slink back to their "old" ways.

[Blue_Tires]

19. I liked the part where they had to negotiate down to a 49-hour work week

Here's hoping the Foxconn employees fight back and demand such a big piece of the pie all the manufacturers come running back to the USA