Sunday, April 15, 2012

Apple's China Factories


Apple had been criticized for Chinese factories used for the production of the company's products. One article states "Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records" (Duhigg and Barboza, 2012). The article continues to further talk about negative facts and opinions on these factories. Although I myself do not agree ethically with the way the factories are conducted, I interestingly found another article that spoke of the positive side to Apple's Chinese factories with Foxconn. It talks about how Foxconn raised payments for all workers, has better-than-average work conditions than other local competitors at the different countries it is located, and how Foxconn is providing a "natural path to modernization" (Karlgaard, 2012). The article compared China to the same state as the U.S.A was in 1922 when it came to worker rights. Seeing as Foxconn seems to have better payment and work conditions than other local competitors and provides jobs for thousands of people, I have to agree that these Chinese factories are a benefit to both China and Apple. I would like to state that I do believe the conditions should be improved nevertheless, but would a powerful, high-earning company that is gaining quite the profit from this usage of such factories make a change to improve them?

MLA Citation:
  • Karlgaard, Rich. "In Defense of Apple's China Plants." Wall Street Journal. 02 Feb 2012: A.13. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Apr 2012.
  • Duhigg, Charles, and David Barboza. "In China, the Human Costs Are Built Into an IPod." Editorial. New York Times 25 Jan. 2012. The New York Times. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.
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