Ramsey Kincannon
News Editor
Since 1998, when Apple, Inc. introduced the iMac, the company started by Steve Jobs has emerged as one of the United States’ most popular technology corporations. With the presentation of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, it has become almost impossible to walk down the street without seeing an Apple device. However, Foxconn and Inventec, the manufacturers of these products have come under increasing scrutiny for their “horrifying picture of life” (Businessweek) at the Chinese factories that physically build and construct the wildly popular gadgets. Other companies that use Foxconn and Inventec include Dell, HP, Nokia and Sony.
Since the turn of the millennium, when technology production has become incredibly valuable, Presidents Bush and Obama have stressed the need for the United States to be the leader in tech production. However, Apple (and other major technology companies) which used make the majority of their products in the United States, have now shipped those jobs to China.
The reason isn’t just that labor is cheaper abroad than in the United States. There are other reasons, for “Apple’s executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have…outpaced their American counterparts” (New York Times). While Apple isn’t the only company to focus on production, efficiency and profit first and foremost, due to its success, it has become the head of a controversy.
A 2010 study concluded that a large number of Foxconn’s 102 factories in China forced employees to work unfairly long hours, 39 percent violated regulations on injury prevention, and 30 percent broke rules on toxic chemical management. Other workers complain about being beaten with whips and iron bars. At one factory in Shenzhen, China, there has been an alarming increase in worker suicides due to “inhuman treatment” (The Independent). These problems are not limited to Apple, though. There have been documented problems with manufacturers of IBM, Motorola and Toshiba as well.
Apple, in particular, has acknowledged problems with the factories in their annual Supplier Responsibility Reports. In a CIO report, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple never “turned a blind eye” and that the company has included an outside agency to monitor the allegations of worker’s rights violations. Apple has also provided training for over a million workers about injury prevention and claims that it is a leader in preventing underage labor.
How Foxconn — and the technology companies that contract it — responds to the allegations (which have circulating since 2006) still remains to be seen. How Apple, IBM, Motorola and the many other companies that have now had their practices exposed responds will shape the legacy of some of the world’s most successful companies.