Tag archive: Foxconn

America seems to be quite smitten with Apple despite the hit the company has taken with the recent Foxconn controversy. Apple shares continue to climb, notching above $500, and according to a new study, the company's reputation beat out Google for the best corporate image in the country. For 13 years, Harris Interactive has published its annual Reputation Quotient (RQ) study. The Harris poll draws from 17,555 people interviewed and surveys… Read More

Apple announced today that the Fair Labor Association (FLA) has begun to investigate a number of Chinese factories where many of Apple's popular devices are assembled. The “special voluntary audits,” initiated at Apple's request, will include close examination of working conditions at Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, the company said. Audits of Apple's supply chain factories follow protests against… Read More

Following the recent rumor that Apple will unveil its highly anticipated successor to the most popular tablet ever in less than a month, the cacophony of iPad 3 buzz has grown deafening. Yet at the same time, a very different sort of cry is developing—one that the tech Goliath (at the time of this writing valued greater than Microsoft and Google — combined) is less experienced in dealing with. Protesters on four continents organized yesterday at… Read More

You heard from Apple's Tim Cook on Friday, responding to a New York Times report concerning the harsh working conditions employees reportedly face at China's Foxconn manufacturing plants. The report speaks of excessive working hours, underage workers and flat-out unsafe working conditions. Cook defended his company's relationship with Foxconn in a statement, and now BSR, a consulting group that promotes corporate… Read More

Amidst celebration of a record quarter, during which Apple brought in more than $46 billion in revenue, a stench of worker mistreatment at Foxconn factories in China, where Apple's popular iPhone and iPad devices are assembled, arose out of the media ether. “In the last decade, Apple has become one of the mightiest, richest and most successful companies in the world, in part by mastering global manufacturing. Apple and its… Read More

First reported by Want China Times earlier today, chairman Terry Gou was meeting with senior managers and stated “”Hon Hai has a workforce of over one million worldwide and as human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache.” Hon Hai is the parent company of Foxconn, the company responsible for creating the majority of iPhones and iPads for Apple. Gou also stated that he would like to learn… Read More

Apple released its annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report on Friday, detailing the computer giant’s efforts to improve conditions for workers throughout its supply chain and to ensure its environmental standards are being met. Notably, the company listed all 156 of its suppliers and manufacturing partners, something it’s never done before. It’s not clear why it chose to do this, though the company obviously feels greater transparency is… Read More

Chinese electronics manufacturer Foxconn claims it has resolved a pay dispute with workers at a factory in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, in the wake of a large protest that had as many as 300 workers threatening to commit suicide by jumping from the top of a factory building. According to Foxconn, the conflict has been resolved peacefully following negotiations between the workers and officials from both Foxconn and the local government.… Read More

About 300 workers at a Foxconn factory in Wuhan, eastern China, reportedly threatened to kill themselves last week by jumping off the top of a building over a dispute with their employer. According to a report by Want China Times quoting information from Chinese anti-government website China Jasmine Revolution, employees had asked management for a pay rise. In response, they were given an ultimatum by bosses: either quit their job and take… Read More

With Apple’s iPhone recently coming to market in 21 more countries and the likely launch of a new smartphone model from the Cupertino company in 2012, it may come as little surprise that Apple supplier Foxconn is planning to expand its Zhengzhou production facility in China, a move that will make it the biggest smartphone manufacturing plant in the world. A China Daily report (via Apple Insider) says Foxconn will double the size of its factory,… Read More

An initial investigation by China Labor Watch into Saturday’s explosion at a subsidiary facility in Shanghai owned by Apple supplier Pegatron has revealed that a build-up of combustible aluminum dust was the likely cause. The incident injured 61 employees at the Riteng Computer Accessory Company factory. China Labor watch is an independent not-for-profit organization that investigates working conditions at factories throughout China. Authorities… Read More

An explosion over the weekend at a subsidiary facility owned by Apple supplier Pegatron injured 61 workers at the site, located at Shanghai’s Songjiang industrial park. According to Reuters, chief financial officer of Pegatron, Charles Lin, said that while there had been no fire at the metal casing factory belonging to Riteng Computer Accessory Company, the gas explosion had resulted in 23 workers requiring hospital treatment. “The factory has… Read More

Amazon may release a phone sometime in 2012, reports Peter Kafka at AllThingsD. The rumor comes via Citigroup's research department, which has received information from Asian component suppliers. “Based on our supply chain channel checks in Asia led by Kevin Chang, Citi’s Taipei-based hardware research analyst, we believe an Amazon Smartphone will be launched in 4Q12,” writes Citigroup analyst Mark Maheney. “Based on our… Read More

Get used to the name Foxconnn, as its corporate logo will almost certainly be printed on the chests of our future machine overlords. The Taiwanese company (although one of China's largest employers) responsible for (among other things) assembling Apple's various iPhones is moving ahead with plans to fill its workforce with a larger number of machine minds. Company chairman Terry Gou signed a letter of intent this week with Taichung… Read More

Foxconn is famous mostly due to the fact that it makes several Apple products, and because there is a history of suicides at its factories. Well Foxconn is making news again thanks in part to its attempt to build a 12 billion dollar iPad factory in Brazil. According to a Reuters report the Taiwanese manufacturer is having a hard time at the bargaining table with Brazilian officials. The source says that the 12 billion dollar deal is now “in… Read More