No suicide pledge in Chinese factory making I pads.

The working conditions in factories run by Foxconn, a subcontractor to Apple, specializing in making I pads has caused so many workers to commit suicide lately that the workers must sign a no suicide clause in order to work.

Workers "voluntarily" (right) work 60 to 90 overtime hours a month sometimes seeing their families only once every 13 weeks

At first the company brought in Buddhist monks to counsel the workers and when that didn't help they hung up suicide nets outside the hung dormitories where the workers are housed, sometimes 24 to a room.

Speaking for the company, a spokesman said that workers were committing suicide to collect compensation for their families, hence the non suicide pledge.

I could go on but you can read the rest here.. Article

Apple of course says this is not their policy and they are looking into it.

reply to post by TerryMcGuire


Thats weird, making an employee sign a no suicide pledge so they can be employed. At the end of the day if the working conditions are bad and there is no moral in the workplace plus paying and living conditions are really bad then they will find a way to end it all (says me writing this on an ipad in work).

reply to post by wlasikiewicz


Check out the article. There are pictures of workers in very small working spaces. The thing is though is these conditions are rampant not only in China but many if not most places that make consumer goods for the large corps.

The only solution to this is to not buy any Apple products until they remedy the situation.

Why are we supporting a company that sends all their production to China, anyway?

If this story had broken before I bought my iPod, I wouldn't have it. I won't buy anything else Apple for now. Also, I would like to know where my PC was made (and under what conditions). And my clothes, and my furniture, and...

reply to post by TerryMcGuire


I've hear about "sweat-shops" before, kids making clothing for pennies and being treated like dirty animals but you would this that Apple would have a Fair Trade policy or something. With all the money that they are making on each ipad sols surely there is cash somewhere to make some small changes.

I feel quite guilty now for buying my ipad.

Try paying a decent wage to the workers, decent benefits, humane working hours, humane and clean living conditions in workers dormitories.. But hell no that would cut into apples grossly inflated profit margins on the rubbish products they sell at extortionate prices.. Easier for apple to use the slave labor policy they do now and make the slaves sign a paper not to commit suicide because of being treated like slaves... And westerners have the cheek to wonder why the employees at the apple factories commit suicide.. Would love to see how long damn westerners would do the same job under the same hellish conditions... Oh thats right no damn westerner would do it under those conditions..

I hope the people that treat others like slaves in this way come back in their next life and reap what they soe. I'm sick to death of all the undeserved poverty in the world while a handful live in luxury, breeding their arrogance onto their children.
I wonder what would happen if factory workers in china went on strike.
I personally dont buy apple products anymore, Over priced and out of date within a year.

Originally posted by Expat888
Try paying a decent wage to the workers, decent benefits, humane working hours, humane and clean living conditions in workers dormitories.. But hell no that would cut into apples grossly inflated profit margins on the rubbish products they sell at extortionate prices..

Yeah, and Westerner consumers wouldnt be willing to pay what that would cost, either.

It's weird how most of the world ignores the sweatshop conditions in China. I read an article once where Chinese workers were forced to share their bed with someone on the opposite shift. Too bad if you're sick, I guess.

You certainly can't blame the workers for wanting to earn the right to have something to eat. It's the people who take advantage of these people who need to be dealt with.

The "no suicide" policy is disgusting. I guess conditions there are so bad even antidepressants can't cheer them up.

Originally posted by TerryMcGuire
Apple of course says this is not their policy and they are looking into it.

Apple of course have mastered the art of avoiding responsibility for their actions, as most other corporations have.

That's why Rupert Murdoch isn't facing charges but those under him are.

reply to post by NuclearPaul


The old, no make that very old pluasable deniability gambit. Know amougst those of us on the lower rungs of the economic system as " the cop out"

Apple IPhone 4 Parts Cost About $188 in parts.

VS THE USA production cost.

Materials and parts for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, which went on sale on June 24, include a 3.5-inch LCD screen that Apple calls a "retina display." As the smartphone's most expensive component, it costs $28.50 and may have been made by LG Display (034220:KS), iSuppli says. The iPhone 4 sells for $199 and $299.

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That $188 claim is high for the China market and I'm sure is not the real cost figure. It's seems like the figure that would included all cost of production to end user, not just parts. the China Market is way cheaper that what this article states. So I will work with the $ 188 figure as the entire cost. The cost of parts for the iphone is more in line with $ 66.00 based on current china metals and IC production costs.

Now that 199.00 and $299 is with a contract for 2 years. I priced these a couple of weeks ago . The price without the contract is $ 599.00 and $ 659 for top of the line.

So the profit from this phone ( china market) for the $599.00 model is $ 300.00 , and the profit from a $299 model is $360.00 .

Now just add in $175.00 for it being manufactured in the USA. I rounded this figure up to $ 175.00 this is on the high side for additional US production costs, on per unit basis with American wages to include benefits and the general cost of doing business in The USA. I worked this out last week in a spread sheet just to see what the US price would be if manufactured here in the USA ( based labor US cost $ 19.00 per hour ) 8 hour day.

So the Iphone 4 models would cost only. $363 dollars for the lowest model and about $ 17.00 more for the high end model to be produced in the The USA. that includes all costs in The USA.

Ok, some one here will mention the raw materials to make this phone ,and that there from china, think again. The Materials are from the USA in the form of recycled metals mostly for the IC board components. China buys these materials from the metal recyclers here in the USA. I know this for a fact. The price payout for recycled metals here in the USA is high now, China is buying them. I myself turned in some copper . 3 lbs got me $ 27.00 bucks. There would be some savings in production costs being that china would not have to import the metals from the USA, but not figured in though.

What would Apple in make in profit from a US production. ( based at current retail prices , no contracts)

US Production $599.00 Model (Profit $236.00) China Lost profit. ( $ 64.00 per unit)
US Production $ 659.00 Model ( Profit $279.00) China Lost profit. ( $ 81.00 per unit)

Will US job seekers want a job making Iphones at $ 19.00 per hour , yes. Will consumer pay that extra 175.00. Yes I think they would. Will Apple want to take a hit on there 6- billion just reported profits, No ! Apple can make it cheaper with blood money and nets.

I know Foxconn and their products pretty well. I am no supporter at all of Apple. I think they sell trash as exorbitantly high prices. But apple seems to be thrown under the bus with this article. Foxconn makes internal accessories for desktops and now mostly laptops. Everything from circuit boards and motherboards to simple cables and connectors inside most laptops. I actually see the most Foxconn products inside HP laptops. But I am sure most brands use their parts. Honestly most laptops you buy are made up form parts from many different companies. Mostly other parts NOT made by the company whose logo is on the outside of the laptop. They are all pretty much the same machines now. So its pretty idiotic to spend $2500 on a new macbook when Acer sells the same quality product with most of the parts made in the same factories for $400.

Sounds like a very repetitive and mundane job though. It would probably drive me up the wall too.

reply to post by Schkeptick


Well i bet you $100 that whatever you used to write your post has foxconn parts in it . There everywhere.