iFactory the very first look at the Apple factory

[HulkSmash]

Jobs was a business man. WHO WOULDN'T find a way to better your company, and make it more profitable. I understand some people bleed red, white, and blue.. and that's fine and dandy - but the reality is, 90% of what we use comes from over seas..

 

[CanuckSigns]

If anything, this just shows how much we depend on China for everything these days. take a look around your office and try to find 1 thing that you use everyday that is made in North America, Most of our industry is based on harvesting natural resources (to send to china) and the tech industry.

At the rate China is using up our natural resources to build us stuff we don't really need (do you need a new cell phone every year?) we are going to be out of them in pretty short time.

Anyone with kids should make sure they learn Mandarin, as it is going to be the most important language in about 20 years. This is not meant to sound xenophobic, it's the truth.

 

[weaselboogie]

China needs to stop having sex for about 20 years.

 

[sar bossier]

I found the pay comparison pretty much said it all - in China - $1.78, same job in US - $23.00. One of the last statements in the commentary - the people building them would never own one - jobs are overseas for profitability ... it sucks, but is reality. That's exactly why Apple has so much $$$.

Just an observation ...

 

[2972renfro]

So let's say Apple does the right thing and pay them significantly more. Why just them? If it starts here and everyone doing business with China follows suit and all workers are paid significantly more is everyone here ready to tighten their belts even more when these companies pass off the extra costs to you? Do you want to start paying 10-50% more for nearly every product you consume? They won't absorb the costs.

I think not. We are consuming goods at an incredible rate.

Apple is the scapegoat right now due to their success and we don't to admit that we are greedy compared to third world countries. Apple did not become successful because of cheap labor

 

[SD&F]

I believe you should All have the right to express your views. I don't think anyone of us feels good about the unfairness in the world, but unless we are willing to step up and speak up we are just as bad as everyone else. The world is filled with many injustices, we can point it out but in reality there is nothing we can do about it. Look here closer to home and you will see some of us working everyday for better, only to see it given away to those who feel they are deserving of our share.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

So let's say Apple does the right thing and pay them significantly more. Why just them? If it starts here and everyone doing business with China follows suit and all workers are paid significantly more is everyone here ready to tighten their belts even more when these companies pass off the extra costs to you? Do you want to start paying 10-50% for nearly every product you consume? They won't absorb the costs.

Eventually pay will increase over there naturally. We saw the same thing happen here early on. Pay was horrible, but it helped fuel innovation (in all it's forms), then you started having workers demand more. Better hours, safer work environment etc. It's a cycle. It will happen in China unless there is something that artificially keeps it from happening. Eventually things made in China will increase in cost when those changes take affect.

The biggest question is: who here can hold out until those changes do take affect?

 

[Pat Whatley]

how is that possible when minimum wage is $8?
i doubt they could even get enough people, willing to work for minimum wage, to meet the demand.

Labor cost is a minimal part of the final cost. Here are figures from the article VecDoc posted about labor costs for assembling iMac computers....

: the cost, excluding the materials, of building a $1,500 computer in Elk Grove was $22 a machine. In Singapore, it was $6.

That's only $16 per computer, right at 1%. I'm not saying that Apple should even take the hit, let them pass it on. If the cost of everything we buy went up 2% across the board we'd barely notice the difference, especially when you consider how much more money would be flowing in the American economy, how much easier it would be for us to earn a living, and how the unemployment rate would plummet. Look at America right after World War 2 when we were the manufacturing base for the world.

Sure, it's idyllic thinking and it will never happen but I really believe it. We've sold ourselves out to "got to have it all, got to have it now, and got to have it cheap."

 

[omgsideburns]

Americans don't want to work in factories.

And the per unit "cost of manufacture" isn't the only cost of production. Just like your business, they have to pay for the facilities, all of the manufacturing equipment, the utilities, insurance, workers comp, etc.. A wage per hour comparison isn't even accurate.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Eventually pay will increase over there naturally. We saw the same thing happen here early on. Pay was horrible, but it helped fuel innovation (in all it's forms), then you started having workers demand more. Better hours, safer work environment etc. It's a cycle. It will happen in China unless there is something that artificially keeps it from happening. Eventually things made in China will increase in cost when those changes take affect.

The biggest question is: who here can hold out until those changes do take affect?

Your problem with that thinking is China is a communist country. Chinese manufacturing is based on one thing: a large, available workforce of small nimble fingers.

Look at pictures of Chinese tech factories....see any 40 year old people working there? Nope. They hire young people, work them until their fingers are literally worn out from hours upon hours of repetitive work then cast them aside when they can't do the job any longer. The government controls the manufacturing base....there are no other jobs for young people, they're desperate to have anything and an abusive tech job that pays slightly above average is something they'll flock to. As long as people are having sex and babies are being born there's always another wave of workers begging to work for whatever they're offered.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Your problem with that thinking is China is a communist country. Chinese manufacturing is based on one thing: a large, available workforce of small nimble fingers.

Not in it's entirety. This is how their use of Communism has lasted longer then most other countries that have tried it.

In all honesty, with the exception of a few markets(mainly military), they are actually more free market then we are at this time. The Economist magazine did an interesting article on that a couple of yrs back. My niece might still have that article, I'll have to see if I can find issue number etc from her.

 

[Pat Whatley]

There's a documentary out there called Mardi Gras:Made In China that took an indepth look into one of the factories making Mardi Gras beads. Supposedly it's a pretty accurate portrayal of most Chinese factories outside of Foxcon. The conditions and treatment are horrible. It's easy to see why people would beg to assemble iPhones.

 

[the graphics co]

Oh really, I have never ever seen large suicide nets placed around any US factory (work place), have you?

The main reason I posted this video was to show the difference between what Apple, which has become the largest company in the WORLD, making the MOST money, Apple has more than $76 billion in cash and marketable securities on its balance sheet, makes in terms of profits compared to what they pay the 1000's of people who actually build the products.

We all know China wages are lower then in the US, that's why all our jobs are going over there, my only problem is the delta between the workers at Foxconn making less than $2 per hour and Apple having $76 billion in cash reserves. HP, Dell and all the other companies you mention don't have anywhere near that kind of cash setting around.

I went to work for Dell in 1999 and at that time Dell was building their computers in Round Rock Texas, and Johnson City Tennessee paying above fair market wages to US workers. My starting salary was over $50k and a few of the other folks working in the graphics group were what we called Dellionaires, one graphic designer I worked with, had over 4 million in Dell stock, he is Dell employee #24, he started working along side Michael Dell as the 24th employee Michael hired in Austin TX, as he started to build his company back in 1984 working out of a strip mall location.

Anyway, back on subject, I know we are all in business to make money, make a profit, but I do believe you should share with the folks who help you make your profits and build your business. God forbid, if China would suffer an earth quake-tsunami like Japan, and shut down FoxConn, what would Apple do?

I don't know, $2 per hour/$76 billion in cash reserves, maybe it's just me but that doesn't sound fair.

Apple is not the largest company in the world, not even in the top ten.

Perhaps $2/hour in china is similar to $50k a year here that you used to make. Remember their economy is in a different period than ours is, just because our cost of living is so high in the U.S. doesn't mean it is in China. There was a time when people in the U.S. survived on a couple dollars a week, and supported families with one modest income. Times have changed here just as they have in china, but, that does not mean all things are equal.

Also, comparing the #24 employee at a massive computer company to a low wage factory worker is hardly fair. I am sure Michael Dell has plenty of people working in his factories on shore or off that are at or near the poverty line.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[gnemmas]

45 years ago, I was assembling CRT monitor for GE in Taiwan as a 17 year-old high school drop-out. It was a pretty good job, clean working environment, earning $2.00 a day.

Today, Taiwan has one of the highest GDP per capita. It has transitioned from low wage labor provider to high end only manufacturers.

We all have to started somewhere.

By the way, Foxxcon I believe,was started by Taiwanese investors.

 

[genericname]

Been hearing a lot about wages (not fair to compare) and suicide rates, but nobody's talking working conditions. True, going to work for Foxconn is purely voluntary, but once you're there, things really are run like a prison. Beatings are common, as are grueling hours (18+ hour days, often without meals if you don't meet your quota). There's a reason it pays better than a lot of other factories in China; it's because the people there have literally sold their lives away until they're completely useless to the company. Suicide rates used to be much higher there before the nets by the way. There was a bit of a worker uprising, which led to some heavy PR damage control by Foxconn's Western partners. Prior to that, warnings by companies like Apple and Microsoft were generally seen as empty gestures, as they'd never be followed with action.

Aside from the nets, we're back there now.

 

[phototec]

how is that possible when minimum wage is $8?
i doubt they could even get enough people, willing to work for minimum wage, to meet the demand.

“When you factor in that the American worker is nearly four times as productive, that math quickly adds ups,” said Hal Sirkin, senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/02/companies-move-manufacturing-jobs-back-to-america/

 

[genericname]

“...that the american worker is nearly four times as productive..."

wut
:ROFLMAO:

 

[Tim Aucoin]

For those Canadians that want to watch this...

http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/iphone-news/watch-abc-nightlines-ifactory-inside-apple-on-youtube/

My opinion (as if it matters!!)....
Over 3000 people were lined up to get a job at Foxconn. I didn't see anyone forcing them to apply. Look at the villages they come from. To them, it's a better way of life and they can create a little better life for themselves and their families. Consider the alternatives in that country.

And yes, as others have said... this was about Apple, but if people stopped purchasing items manufactured in these kind of factories, we would all still be in the stone age except those very wealthy people who could afford to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a simple computer... IF they are patient enough to make it through the wait-list that would be in place because supply would definitely not be able to keep up with demand!

Think about it... your (home) telephone, your cell phone, your computer, your television, your refrigerator, your stove, your microwave, most of the parts that run your car, your small appliances, etc., etc., etc...

 

[Tim Aucoin]

“When you factor in that the American worker is nearly four times as productive, ...
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/02/companies-move-manufacturing-jobs-back-to-america/

Yeah, maybe when they're not on one of their 4 or 5 coffee/smoke breaks or on their hour long lunch, or on an extended bathroom break, or off sick with a hang nail...!!!

And for the record... I speak of Americans and Canadians alike! :Big Laugh

 

[David Wright]

Americans don't want to work in factories.

And the per unit "cost of manufacture" isn't the only cost of production. Just like your business, they have to pay for the facilities, all of the manufacturing equipment, the utilities, insurance, workers comp, etc.. A wage per hour comparison isn't even accurate.

Bull! Come to the Detroit area when factories are hiring, even at $12 an hour they line up down the street. The people that leave here and move to Florida, well that's another story.