Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
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Re: Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
#2Dupe, or well, a more sensationalist dupe.
In the original discussion someone pointed out that Foxconn has around 300000 employees. That's quite a lot of people, and statistically, you will have the same problems as you would in a town of that size.
Re: Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
#3"Foxconn's Shenzen plant that builds Apple's iPads, iPods, and iPhones has 400,000 employees"
I can not even imagine what a plant like that looks like. Also, how much stuff does Apple sell? Or are these just really slow workers? Even if they could only manufacture one item per employee per day, it would seem like a lot of items to sell.
Re: Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
#4"Foxconn's Shenzen plant that builds Apple's iPads, iPods, and iPhones has 400,000 employees" I can not even imagine what a plant like that looks like. Also, how much stuff does Apple sell? Or are these just really slow workers? Even if they could only manufacture one item per employee per day, it would seem like a lot of items to sell.
I'm guessing they build a bunch of other stuff in addition to the iPhones and iPods.
Re: Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
#5"Foxconn's Shenzen plant that builds Apple's iPads, iPods, and iPhones has 400,000 employees" I can not even imagine what a plant like that looks like. Also, how much stuff does Apple sell? Or are these just really slow workers? Even if they could only manufacture one item per employee per day, it would seem like a lot of items to sell.
Some maps and photos after the jump:
http://www.pmptoday.com/2007/08/13/apple-ipod-iphone-manufac...
"Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Shenzhen is a walled factory city of 270,000 Hon Hai (Foxconn) employees. They have everything from a hospital, fire station, swimming pool, athletic field a separate area for the basketball courts and even a bookstore (see pictures below). Besides Apple iPods and iPhones, Hon Hai workers/residents make Dell and Hewlett Packard PCs, Motorola and Nokia cell phones, Sony PlayStation 2 and PSP and the Nintendo Wii."
Re: Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
#6Funny, the Engadget insider story indicated that Foxconn is not nearly as hellish as people have assumed given the suicides, etc.
Re: Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
#7"given workers dummies to beat on to vent their rage"
Common wisdom says that this physical activity releases or "vents" your anger, but it actually works you up more. Sustained physical exercise, like walking for a while, can calm you down, though.
Re: Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
#8And we still complain that these devices are up market?
Yes, there is probably a good margin, as Apple beats some of the largest companies in the world in market cap, but what does it say about American (world?) culture that we demand awesome products at affordable prices that would lead companies to do this to keep their profit margins?
Maybe, just maybe, we ask for too much sometimes. I was taking a flight to NYC from Austin last week on JetBlue. They had DirectTV satellite, and XM radio. I was ashamed that I found myself thinking, "What, no WiFi?"
Re: Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
#9The article doesn't have any actual hard facts regarding the hellish conditions. For instance:
"According to Liu, the plant makes employees work around the clock, only pausing briefly to eat or sleep."
How long exactly is "briefly"? 3 hours or maybe 7? We aren't told.
The article also doesn't say why these 300k people don't quit. Is it that there are no better jobs available to them?
Re: Only Escape From Hellish Apple iPhone Factory Was Suicide
#10I find this article difficult to believe re the wage. 900 yuan is a very difficult wage to live on in Shenzhen, and I doubt that people are leaving their home towns to go and work in shenzhen and just earning 900yuan. Or does this exclude board and food?