Apple partner Foxconn says it's not a 'sweatshop' as suicides mount

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 72
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nothlit View Post


    The World Health Organization indicates the nationwide suicide rate in China is something like 14 per 100,000 people. Foxconn's 10 out of 300,000 in one year is actually lower than that.



    Yup. Actual facts lost on "journalists" trying to fabricate a crisis.
  • Reply 22 of 72
    jmmxjmmx Posts: 341member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nothlit View Post


    The World Health Organization indicates the nationwide suicide rate in China is something like 14 per 100,000 people. Foxconn's 10 out of 300,000 in one year is actually lower than that.



    By the article you quote it is 14.8 for women + 13 for men = almost 28/100,000 population (assuming roughly equal number men/women).
  • Reply 23 of 72
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by str1f3 View Post


    Before you start spouting those statistics, you should read the story of what life is like for those workers. I would kill myself too if I lived like that.



    It's like college and dorms.
  • Reply 24 of 72
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,305member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stonefree View Post


    Well Apple is demanding they produce the goods at the lowest possible price, so this is a consequence of that.



    For supposedly premium products, why does Apple use a low tier manufacturer like Foxcon? Their motherboards not well regarded in the PC world, so I doubt things are different with Apple. Mac do seem to have very high rates of logic board failure.



    Apple (and every other company) demands the same thing of Intel and every other supplier, and customers demand the same thing of every company in the world. We all want the best product we can get for the lowest price. That doesn't mean that we're all responsible for the Chinese government's unwillingness to pass and enforce labor laws.
  • Reply 25 of 72
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,305member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bloodstains View Post


    It may not be Apple's responsibility per se, but that doesn't not mean they have to sit idly by. They are in a unique position to apply pressure and affect change. They could really take the lead here as far as computer companies go like they have with their "green" initiatives. You are paying a premium for a "boutique" computer. It would be nice to see that extra expense be leveraged for a program like this.



    And they are doing more than any other tech company that uses these suppliers. Apple did their own investigation and published the findings -- findings that were not at all flattering. Apple is doing more than their fair share. Frankly, the Chinese government should be embarrassed that Apple feels the need to do it at all. Whose responsibility is it to protect Chinese citizens -- a foreign multinational company or the Chinese government? Can you imagine if US workers had to rely on Toyota to force an American tire supplier to follow US law because the US government was so completely negligent in its duties?
  • Reply 26 of 72
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,860member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmmx View Post


    By the article you quote it is 14.8 for women + 13 for men = almost 28/100,000 population (assuming roughly equal number men/women).



    No, 14.8 per 100,000 women + 13 per 100,000 men == 27.8 per 200,0000 or ~14 per 100,000
  • Reply 27 of 72
    mobilitymobility Posts: 135member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AjitMD View Post


    Apple needs to move its manufacturing to the US and invest heavily in automation. There no justification to use economic slavery in the quest for profits. Especially for a company with $30-40B in cash. There are a lot of states in the US that do not have relatively low labor cost, and no state income taxes.



    As noble a thought as that is, the smart people at Apple would have done that if it were feasible. What you morons fail to notice is that while almost all of the other consumer electronics engineering has moved outside of the states, Apple develops these products in Cupertino. Stop vilifying this company, holding it to a ghost standard. Hold other companies to Apple's standard, let's start there.
  • Reply 28 of 72
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    And for all the trolls spinning this as Apple's problem alone this from Foxconn's Wikipedia entry...



    "Among other things, Foxconn produces the Mac mini, the iPod, the iPad, and the iPhone for Apple Inc.; Intel-branded motherboards for Intel Corp.; various orders for American computer manufacturers Dell and Hewlett-Packard; motherboards for UK computer manufacturer Zoostorm; the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 for Sony; the Wii for Nintendo; the Xbox 360 for Microsoft, cell phones for Motorola, the Amazon Kindle, and Cisco equipment.[2][3][4][5]"



    The trolls (journalists?) seem to leave this little fact out when bashing Apple for this unfortunate state of affairs.
  • Reply 29 of 72
    mobilitymobility Posts: 135member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AjitMD View Post


    Apple needs to move its manufacturing to the US and invest heavily in automation. There no justification to use economic slavery in the quest for profits. Especially for a company with $30-40B in cash. There are a lot of states in the US that do not have relatively low labor cost, and no state income taxes.



    Also, I bet you're the same dude who will balk at paying full price for cellphones, balk at airfares in America, balk at the cost of American made goods. You can't have it both ways. You also can't wait till someone gets successful and then demand that they share their bounty with you. While I'm no ardent supporter of Ayn Rand's brand of objectivism, your situation reminds of the Atlas Shrugged story, where people demanded to ride on the backs and strong shoulders of the few people that actually bothered to do something.
  • Reply 30 of 72
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    Condolences to the person and their family.



    That said foxconn suicide rate is still way lower than their national suicide rate, and lower than a lot of tec companies. Ask France telecom who have the count of 30+ if I remember correctly.



    But of course a lot of money is spent nowadays to the press by competitors to throw dirt at apple, since they can't put any decent product on the market. I am sure if someone tracked ms, intel, dell, google etc. they past 6 months they will have their fair share of suicides, if they didn't it would defy international statistics on suicides.



    Anyway, people are not numbers, so above all rip to the deceased .
  • Reply 31 of 72
    anakin1992anakin1992 Posts: 283member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    Yes. A friend of mine here is an exchange student from Beijing. She told me that the single-child policy is still in effect.



    it is one child policy mostly in city while not applicable to minority. in countryside, it is pretty much that this policy is ignored widespread. those working in foxconn mostly come from country instead of city.
  • Reply 32 of 72
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by str1f3 View Post


    Before you start spouting those statistics, you should read the story of what life is like for those workers. I would kill myself too if I lived like that.



    http://gizmodo.com/5542527/undercove...s-hell-factory



    Perhaps Foxconn's suicide rate is high among such factories or perhaps this is a focus on Apple, but he made no claim that the conditions are good or acceptable by our standards. He merely pointed out that it's still well below the national average.
  • Reply 33 of 72
    I love it how all you people are so quick to quote Chinese suicide statistics. If their suicide statistics are as accurate as their economic ones, I wouldn't put very much stock in it.



    Lastly, why are you all so quick to defend Apple? I'm sure you all would gladly pay another $20 to have things made in the USA. Heck, its a selling point in this high unemployment era. Especially with all the billions in cash laying around.



    There have been living wage initiatives with coffee, why not computers?
  • Reply 34 of 72
    davegeedavegee Posts: 2,765member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AjitMD View Post


    Apple needs to move its manufacturing to the US and invest heavily in automation. There no justification to use economic slavery in the quest for profits. Especially for a company with $30-40B in cash. There are a lot of states in the US that do not have relatively low labor cost, and no state income taxes.



    I guess we can take you off the list of the "People Who Know Something About The Tech Biz List"



    NOBODY is manufacturing CE and/or computer gear in the US.



    You MIGHT still find SUPER EXPENSIVE signature audiophile / videophile stuff still made in the US but when they charge $15,000 for a DVD player or $60,000 for a pair of front speakers then I guess they certainly could afford to have em made in the US but I defy you to find any big-name competitively priced CE products that are MADE in the US. However, even those high priced companies have finally gone overseas too. Oh and IMPORTING a bunch of pre-assembeled circuit boards, screwing them into a case (made who knows where) and tacking on a power supply (also made who knows where) does NOT count as 'Made in USA'.
  • Reply 35 of 72
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaveGee View Post


    I guess we can take you off the list of the "People Who Know Something About The Tech Biz List"



    NOBODY is manufacturing CE and/or computer gear in the US.



    You MIGHT still find SUPER EXPENSIVE signature audiophile / videophile stuff still made in the US but when they charge $15,000 for a DVD player or $60,000 for a pair of front speakers then I guess they certainly could afford to have em made in the US but I defy you to find any big-name competitively priced CE products that are MADE in the US. However, even those high priced companies have finally gone overseas too. Oh and IMPORTING a bunch of pre-assembeled circuit boards, screwing them into a case (made who knows where) and tacking on a power supply (also made who knows where) does NOT count as 'Made in USA'.



    Wrong, intel has one in Arizona
  • Reply 36 of 72
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,860member
    double post
  • Reply 37 of 72
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,200member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nothlit View Post


    The World Health Organization indicates the nationwide suicide rate in China is something like 14 per 100,000 people. Foxconn's 10 out of 300,000 in one year is actually lower than that.



    For the U.S., the National Institute of Mental Health at the NIH reports an annual suicide rate of 10.9 per 100,000 people. The average age of Foxconn workers is probably below the average age of all U.S. citizens, though. For young adults in the U.S., the suicide rate is higher than for the general population, at 12.5 per 100,000 in young adults ages 20-24. For adolescents in the U.S., the rate drops to 8.2 per 100,000, which is still much worse than Foxconn's apparent suicide rate.



    http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publi...on/index.shtml
  • Reply 38 of 72
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,200member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zindako View Post


    Doesn't China have like a law that prohibits its citizens from having more than two children?



    I don't know if that's still true. But China must have a law like we do in the U.S. that prohibits suicide.
  • Reply 39 of 72
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cpsro View Post


    I don't know if that's still true. But China must have a law like we do in the U.S. that prohibits suicide.



    They must have, but hey also have a living reality that promotes it...
  • Reply 40 of 72
    r00fusr00fus Posts: 245member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by str1f3 View Post


    Before you start spouting those statistics, you should read the story of what life is like for those workers. I would kill myself too if I lived like that.



    http://gizmodo.com/5542527/undercove...s-hell-factory



    Yeah, let's not get carried away with facts when a bit of "unbaised" journalism will shed more light!

    More food for thought: have you seen how dismal the average Chinese citizens' life is? Not everywhere in China is like glittering Hong Kong or bustling Shanghai.
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