Riot reported at Apple partner manufacturer Foxconn's iPhone 5 plant [ux2]

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Reports of a "mass disturbance" at Foxconn's Taiyuan factory surfaced early Monday local China time, with the purported 2,000-person riot having caused damage to the plant's infrastructure.

The first reports came in late Saturday night through the Sina Weibo micro-blogging service, showing pictures of police clad in riot gear fending off large groups of people in and around Foxconn's plant, reports Engadget.

What sparked the disturbance is still unknown, however unofficial reports point to a worker being hit by a Foxconn guard at around 10 p.m. on Sunday, local time. The resulting riot was also said to include 2,000 people, however that too has yet to be confirmed.

Chinese censors are already removing pictures and video of the incident from the internet.

In a report earlier this month, a Chinese reporter supposedly went undercover inside the Taiyuan factory to experience the facility's working and living conditions first hand, and found that the plant was responsible for the fabrication of "uni-body" backplates used in Apple's latest iPhone 5.



Update: According to Reuters, a Foxconn official said the incident was in fact a fight between workers from different production lines.

"The fight is over now ... we're still investigating the cause of the fight and the number of people involved," said Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo. He went on to say the company will release a statement regarding the matter later on Monday.

Update 2: Foxconn has reportedly shut down the Taiyuan factory due to the disturbance which reportedly injured 40 people.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 78


    Maybe this is why some of the iPhone 5s are nicked and scratched. Maybe they were used as weaponsimage

  • Reply 2 of 78
    Here we go, more feeding frenzy to come... As an expat living in China, I can tell you that their are in fact 10's of thousands of demonstrations in China every year. Yes, 10's of thousands. As to the sensational headlines, and story here about "mass disturbance" and "damage to the plant's infrastructure", in the photos it looks like a couple windows were broken and the guard station and gate were destroyed. Until more news comes out, hardly seems like a massive riot. If in fact the guards beat up an employee, I'm sure the situation will be rectified very very quickly. It is also sensationalism to call this an "iPhone 5 plant" when in it appears that they make many kinds of parts for many types of products and the only item they make for the iPhone is the back aluminum structure. Why not call it an X-Box plant since Foxconn also makes those? Or a Dell plant, or an HP plant since they most likely also make components for them?
  • Reply 3 of 78


    This is due to exploitation and Apple is contributing to it. What, only a couple of bucks or so go labor on iPhone?


     


    Apple is turning out to be the most greediest company in history.


     


    Apple customer since 1990...

  • Reply 4 of 78
    pfisher wrote: »
    This is due to exploitation and Apple is contributing to it. What, only a couple of bucks or so go labor on iPhone?

    Apple is turning out to be the most greediest company in history.

    Apple customer since 1990...

    I think you hit upon at least points on TallesSkil's troll list. Let's see if you break the record.
  • Reply 5 of 78


    Originally Posted by pfisher View Post

    This is due to exploitation and Apple is contributing to it. What, only a couple of bucks or so go labor on iPhone?


     


    Apple is turning out to be the most greediest company in history.



     


    Nope. Nuh uh. Not true.





    Apple customer since 1990...





    HOLY CRAP, THAT MUST MAKE IT TRUE! HOW WRONG COULD I HAVE BEEN?!


     


    Oh, right, Solipsism makes a good point. I haven't had a chance to whip out my China ones yet.


     



     


    No numbers on these because the order is still up in the air.


     


    EDIT: He's right, one more.



     


    A~nd throw this in just because a case for it can be made in the words he chose.


  • Reply 6 of 78
    Nope. Nuh uh. Not true.


    HOLY CRAP, THAT MUST MAKE IT TRUE! HOW WRONG COULD I HAVE BEEN?!

    Oh, right, Solipsism makes a good point. I haven't had a chance to whip out my China ones yet.

    LL

    No numbers on these because the order is still up in the air.

    And I don't think I've ever had to show five of them before, so this might be the new record.

    Don't forget the non-Chinese ones about Apple being greedy and selfish and how his words are canon because he says he owns Apple products and has for a long time.
  • Reply 7 of 78


    I find it's odd how Samsung having violations in over 20 different plants using 7+ year old child labor for 17-18 hours a run gets pushed to the back of the news. Of course, how much actual control Apple has with these plants is obviously limited. Will take more than Apple to change what is truly a social and national issue with China itself. Until our own counties ban the use of China for manufacturing for constant abuse, expect this will continue with more than Apple.. Samsung, HTC, even Google/Motorola. Apple is just the hot topic.. 

  • Reply 8 of 78
    Wait times are being recalculated...
  • Reply 9 of 78
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Nope. Nuh uh. Not true.


    HOLY CRAP, THAT MUST MAKE IT TRUE! HOW WRONG COULD I HAVE BEEN?!

    Oh, right, Solipsism makes a good point. I haven't had a chance to whip out my China ones yet.

    LL

    No numbers on these because the order is still up in the air.

    EDIT: He's right, one more.
    LL

    A~nd throw this in just because a case for it can be made in the words he chose.
    LL

    Where do you keep your list?
  • Reply 10 of 78

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pfisher View Post


     


    Apple customer since 1990...



    Ah, classic.image


     


    Why are you people such clichés.....

  • Reply 11 of 78


    double post. oops.

  • Reply 12 of 78

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pfisher View Post


    This is due to exploitation and Apple is contributing to it. What, only a couple of bucks or so go labor on iPhone?


     


    Apple is turning out to be the most greediest company in history.


     


    Apple customer since 1990...



     


    Foxconn to Increase Workers' Wages in China


     


     


    Apple and Foxconn to share labour cost increases


     


     


    Foxconn promises to fix a multitude of violations found by FLA audit


     


    Inform yourself.

  • Reply 13 of 78
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pfisher View Post


    This is due to exploitation and Apple is contributing to it. What, only a couple of bucks or so go labor on iPhone?


     


    Apple is turning out to be the most greediest company in history.


     


    Apple customer since 1990...





    Yep, and whining since 1989.  Buzz off troll.

  • Reply 14 of 78
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member


    Apple somehow will be blamed for the end of civilization this year! Mark my words! I think "Mayan" is loosely translated to "Apple" is some ancient language.

  • Reply 15 of 78
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    Don't forget the non-Chinese ones about Apple being greedy and selfish and how his words are canon because he says he owns Apple products and has for a long time.




    Oh wait... he said he owns Apple products????!!!  Oh jeez... that changes EVERYTHING...  **rolls eyes**

  • Reply 16 of 78


    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post

    Where do you keep your list?


     


    Synced between Notes on my Macs and my iPad. Not done yet. image

  • Reply 17 of 78
    I'm having a hard time picturing thousands of 25 kilo pre-teens rioting [I]anywhere[/I]¡
  • Reply 18 of 78
    My apologies - I thought the headline was referring to the workers having a massive party to celebrate the the iPhone 5's successful launch. Then I read the story. We're doomed.
  • Reply 19 of 78
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    I'm having a hard time picturing thousands of 25 kilo pre-teens rioting anywhere¡


    The pre-teens are probably not the actual rioters. The news gets out of some injustice and the hooligans converge to vent their anger for whatever cause de jure. There is a lot of sociological assertiveness emerging in many parts of the developing world recently and the majority of these disturbances are instigated by adolescent males. The examples are wide ranging but there have been recent news of riots in China about tiny disputed islands on which no one lives but nevertheless it has caused numerous burnings of Japanese businesses, flags and cars. Young people are immature in every society, but given an excuse for social disorder there is very little personal restraint and the confrontations escalate quickly. Occasionally we see the same type of crowd behavior in the the US and UK etc, but the emerging third world societies are particularly susceptible to this type of unrest as recent current events have confirmed especially in the Islamic world. 

  • Reply 20 of 78


    First I thought it's about a concert of a Russian band at Foxconn... then I saw it's not the Pussy Riot... it's pissy riot (or PC riot?).


    Does anyone know if it has affected Apple's production? if not, it's not a mac related news.

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