Tag: foxconn

      Apple reports child labor in supplier factories

      March 1, 2010 /

      Baby working for the iPod.Apple’s had a rough go with its suppliers of late. If arson, among other things, wasn’t bad enough, the company now reports that several of its suppliers have confirmed child laborers in their employ. The news came in the form of Apple’s own supplier responsibility report, which is really an attempt to clean up the company image.

      The report also found that 50 factories have kept employees past than the maximum 60 hour work week and 24 factories paying below than minimum wage. Some 61% of suppliers follow their safety regulations and only 57% have the required environmental permits. It’s not great news, though obviously the child labor thing is the real kick in the pants.

      Though Apple wouldn’t reveal where the infracting factories were located, it did say that the children were no longer employed. Apple is still using the suppliers involved.

      Source: Bloomberg

      Apple, Computers, News

      Foxconn workers burn down a factory

      February 20, 2010 /

      Foxconn truck.No one likes to be lied to by an employer, though few ever take that dislike as far as Foxconn workers in Mexico. Apparently a group of Foxconn employees set fire to their factory after management attempted to coerce workers into overtime labor without compensation.

      Foxconn’s Juarez, Mexico facility uses transportation trucks to ferry workers to and from the plant every day. Yesterday, supervisors at the plant told workers that the trucks had been delayed at a military checkpoint and instructed the employees to continue working until the trucks arrived. As it turns out, the trucks were sitting in the parking lot, presumably parked-in on purpose. It wasn’t the first time the factory had pulled a stunt like this, so the workers decided to get even. They torched the gymnasium, which is where the plant keeps all of its finished cell phones and computers.

      Don’t be surprised if there’s suddenly a bit of an iPhone shortage in certain parts of the country.

      Source: Gizmodo

      iPhone, News

      Foxconn to open retail stores in China

      December 2, 2009 /

      Foxconn to open retail stores.Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, has plans to open as many as 10,000 retail locations in China, according to China Daily. That’s a hell of a plan, considering they have virtually zero current retail presence.

      The stores will likely be host to the products Foxconn produces, including the iPhone and the Nintendo Wii. As Michael Arrington has it, the stores will also be used to drum up additional business from companies like HP and Dell, with promises of retail presence at the new locations.

      If anything, I’m surprised Foxconn would limit itself to third-party (sort of) offerings. Why not go into retail with its own products, at its own prices. China Daily claims the company accounts for nearly 4% of Taiwan’s total exports, more than $55 billion worth. Most people think that’s a gross undervaluation. The real export figure could be as high as $100 billion.

      Apple, iPhone, News

      The CrunchPad is dead

      November 30, 2009 /

      The CrunchPad is no more.Less than a month after claiming the CrunchPad was “steamrolling” toward production, Michael Arrington has pronounced his web tablet dead. Apparently there was a serious fallout with the manufacturer. Serious as in the manufacturer is going to try to sell the device itself. Without Arrington. Potentially under the CrunchPad moniker.

      This is about as spectacular as device wars get. You can imagine Arrington is pissed, and bound to be throwing around any lawsuit he can think up. He writes this about the email he received from Fusion Garage, the company set to manufacture the web tablet.

      Bizarrely, we were being notified that we were no longer involved with the project. Our project. Chandra said that based on pressure from his shareholders he had decided to move forward and sell the device directly through Fusion Garage, without our involvement.

      Err, what? This is the equivalent of Foxconn, who build the iPhone, notifiying Apple a couple of days before launch that they’d be moving ahead and selling the iPhone directly without any involvement from Apple.

      The rest of Arrington’s post on the subject is appropriately distressed. I’m still amazed Fusion Garage would try to pull this off, particularly two days before the product was set for a public launch. For more detail on the drama, head over to to TechCrunch and offer Arrington your condolences.

      Source: TechCrunch

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