iPhone 5: Built on Slavery?

Taiwanese and Korean based companies and are fairly nasty people to work with in mainland China, these two are considered the worst people to work for along with the Japanese companies.
Basically, they treat mainlanders like crap, push them to the extremes, know workers have little rights and will not cause issues because they can easily be replaced.
I know some people at Foxconn in Shenzhen, constant unpaid OT, overloaded, underpaid best thing they can do is find another job.

Remember Foxconn is the whip holder.

I've watched a couple reports on Foxxcon and Apple. If I recall, Jobs went to China because they promised to deliver revisions to design in record times. Apparently he didn't bother to ask how they were going to accomplish that.

Here is something that some people don't know...and it's kinda a bad reflection on all of us consumers. Did you know, that to make the Apple products here in the states and pay average American wages would raise the price of an I-phone....wait for it....something like $30.00...pretty sad huh? We want to save that $30.00 bucks so bad we will let slave labor go on and deny our own countrymen a job....sad stuff.

The thirty dollar number was something they said in the report...I do not know the exact number or the source...but it made me think. Even if it was $50.00, it's pretty sad.

There is one aspect to this that people aren't considering though. That is these people have no other choice. It's not like there tons of job options. If you get a job, any job, you take it!!! Knowing full well you're gonna have to work your butt off and you'll get paid basically room and board and that's it. So what does that give you? Basically room and board and maybe if you're really lucky a tiny tiny bit extra to put away each month. Hardly anything. But it's better than starving on the street because there is no social service offices to go to there. You work or you die. Thats' how life is in those countries. That's why "they love you longggg timeeee". Thats' why they come here and have taken over all the jobs at Tim Hortons, A&W, chamber maids, fruit pickers, and other jobs. Cuz if they got a job here paying 10 bucks an hour that's like winning the lotto! that's like there dream come true. They don't take it for granted the way people growing up in north america do. But again, it's take the job or starve out there, so conditions or no conditions that's irrelevant. They have no choice. That's why human trafficing goes on so much, cuz you get these poor uneducated types who will do ANYTHING to survive and they get abused and taken advantage of plain and simple, and won't run away because at least there getting fed and a roof over there heads. It's so sad.

reply to post by r2d246


I'm sorry to say but you got it wrong, they have choice, plenty. Hordes of workers leave their placements at the end of the Chinese year, Companies will do ANYTHING to hold them, not pay bonuses unless they return, withhold salary ect, because they know workers can find alot better paid jobs elsewhere with less hours.
Where I live, factories have people outside the factories trying to recruit but no one wants to work these jobs because of the absolutely CRAP PAY AND CONDITIONS, they would rather find a job back in their hometown.

China is rapidly changing, and the class divide is getting worse, bosses charge more for their crap products and services but they expect to pay people the same as 8 years ago, alot of factories simply cannot find personnel to fill these low end jobs. Workers are finally standing up and making the bosses bend over for once.

People who do immigrate have money, they immigrate their kids, then when they get older to retirement age they come over and take full advantage of the system, it's easy to make money in China if you're in business, easy to avoid tax, laws and regulations mean absolutely nothing here if you have money and contacts.

My friend recently moved back to Australia and told me how 'Cheap' things were there compared to here (China).

Ugh!

This thread again?

Move along... nothing to see here.

Originally posted by Mkoll
If they didn't it would be even more expensive. Without cheap international labor the standard of living America is accustomed too would be impossible.

Interesting how you say cheap international labor like there is nothing wrong with it, despite the extreme suffering of people.

Its not only Apple though. Samsung and others also use Foxconn.

So you have a choice, but its a hard one. You can choose to not support these companies by not buying unnecessary technology like pads or smartphones, or... you can buy them.

I like technology so I buy them and it feels awful being part of the people supporting pure slavery. But at least I feel im honest about it.

The "happpiness" of the western world is based on consumer materialism and if you want to live here, you pretty much have to use technology to get anything done. Its not real happiness of course. Its just a bit of cheese for running in the hamster wheel.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


Just read into the horror story that is china's modern history, and anything you read cannot come close to the reality over there

The most evil and murderous government on the planet wont encourage a place for good work conditions

I really want to vent BIGTIME on something about apple, though I do like their products, I hate what they do through applecare. I have been trying to get my password and user name retrieved and because I don't have applecare apple support will not give me instructions. I've tried and tired going to itunes and changing and putting a new password. This has been going on for months. I have a G5 tower and do not want to buy applecare.

I think it is terrible how they treat people with an older computer. I think it will truly cause bad karma with them. They seem to want the money but their service stinks bigtime. It is not so much the lower rung, but whoever is making decision in upper management. , I guess all they can see is dollar signs.

And this seems to fit in with their factories overseas I guess from what is posted here.

So it is a love-hate relationship I have, I love their products but I think their service stinks to HIGH HEAVEN !

There are so many companies gigantic ones, that you can call for free service and you don't ever have to pay except when you buy the product.
With all the money they make you would think they could be like other computer and electronic companies.

To me it is truly disgusting.

What you don't like children working in near slave like conditions making your stuff?

You must love Unions?

Oh it's Unions that are destroying the US, right?

wait, Unions are the ones that made it so that can't happen here in the US, so they shipped those jobs to those 3rd world countries without Unions.

So AMERICA, do you like Unions or not?

Originally posted by PrimitiveWorld

Originally posted by Mkoll
If they didn't it would be even more expensive. Without cheap international labor the standard of living America is accustomed too would be impossible.

Interesting how you say cheap international labor like there is nothing wrong with it, despite the extreme suffering of people.

Its not only Apple though. Samsung and others also use Foxconn.

So you have a choice, but its a hard one. You can choose to not support these companies by not buying unnecessary technology like pads or smartphones, or... you can buy them.

I like technology so I buy them and it feels awful being part of the people supporting pure slavery. But at least I feel im honest about it.

The "happpiness" of the western world is based on consumer materialism and if you want to live here, you pretty much have to use technology to get anything done. Its not real happiness of course. Its just a bit of cheese for running in the hamster wheel.

edit on 11-9-2012 by PrimitiveWorld because: (no reason given)

Sorry, but that's BS.

There's a decent enough chances that a ton of the stuff you own (and wear) was made in china under appalling conditions... it's not just mobile phones, but things like clothes, insulation, pipes, tiles, etc. The list is really endless.

Want to avoid Chinese made goods? Live in a cave,

reply to post by crackerjack


Oh ya, they got all kinds of options don't they. Just boundless opportunities in high paying jobs. But they get tricked into working in the iphone plant. RIGHT!

reply to post by jacknast76

So AMERICA, do you like Unions or not?

I don't think it's as simple as that. Unions are great, they protect workers, and in many ways they are necessary. But unions can also become corrupt, and too powerfull. It can be argued that bloated UAW contracts have pushed manufacturing jobs overseas. Here in LA a lot of smaller movie companies choose to shoot in Vancouver or even places as far away as Romania because they can't afford the union contracts. Look at police unions and teachers unions that protect jobs of members who should be terminated for gross negligence, but aren't thanks to their powerful union. There does need to be a balance, not saying that the corporate
masters should always have the upper hand, but neither should the unions.

reply to post by r2d246


Most of them are graduates or very young looking for experience then they are off, since there is ALOT of graduates around, companies like Foxconn prey on them for their cheap labor.

If you lived in China maybe you would understand the work culture more.

Originally posted by crackerjack
reply to post by r2d246

 

Most of them are graduates or very young looking for experience then they are off, since there is ALOT of graduates around, companies like Foxconn prey on them for their cheap labor.

If you lived in China maybe you would understand the work culture more.

It doesn't really matter though... Their pay and treatment often verges on what we in the West consider criminal...

Cell phone radiation level rated 'average'.....with average use?
What would be average use is the better question.

The competition for radiation.

why single out apple and iphone. many companies use foxxcon.

Imagine the iphone 5 costs 8 dollars to build. We pay like 500 for one. Ouch! thats approaximately a 6000% mark up!

Originally posted by r2d246
Imagine the iphone 5 costs 8 dollars to build. We pay like 500 for one. Ouch! thats approaximately a 6000% mark up!

Oooh ooh Imagine instead it costs a BILLION dollars to build, and we pay 500 for it...

I mean you know, while we're imagining nonsensical crap..

What I'm saying is that there is room within the profit margain to pay honest wages to build it. It could easily be built in america for that matter at decent wages most likely when they inflate it by 6000% It's nuts. Like they actually have to put up suicide nets on the factories? Like think about that? You know when you've reached that point that there's SERIOUS PROBLEM.

Originally posted by r2d246
What I'm saying is that there is room within the profit margain to pay honest wages to build it. It could easily be built in america for that matter at decent wages most likely when they inflate it by 6000% It's nuts.

Like they actually have to put up suicide nets on the factories? Like think about that? You know when you've reached that point that there's SERIOUS PROBLEM.

edit on 13-9-2012 by r2d246 because: (no reason given)

As long as you keep saying insane BS like 6000% your point is meaningless.

The MIGHT make 100%, maybe, but probably not, when you factor in all the money they spend to design it, market it and sell it.

I'd best they don't make more that 30%, max.

30% not 6000%.

Look here:

tech.fortune.cnn.com...

They make a GROSS profit margin of 60% per iPhone, and that's before you factor in all the costs (development, advertising, staff, etc.)

So yeah, maybe 30%net, probably less.

Certainly not 6000% and NOT enough to bring manufacturing to the US.