“As workers in the U.S. and elsewhere commanded ever higher wages, manufacturers shifted operations elsewhere, including such places as Mexico and Japan, and later Taiwan and China. Many companies, Apple among them, get outside companies to handle the manufacturing entirely, often in places where labor costs are low and workplace regulations differ from those in the U.S. and Europe,” Arik Hesseldahl reports for BusinessWeek.

Hesseldahl reports, “Given this economic backdrop, I wasn’t terribly surprised to read allegations in the British newspaper The Mail on June 25 that Apple Computer’s iPod portable media players are made in what the paper portrayed as sweatshop conditions.”

“The plant in question is operated in Longhua, China by an outfit called Foxconn, the trade name given to Hon Hai Precision Industry. Known as a contract electronics manufacturer—a company whose sole purpose is to manufacture products for other companies—Hon Hai is by all accounts successful. It turned a $1.2 billion profit on $28.4 billion in sales in 2005,” Hesseldahl reports.

Hesseldahl reports, “Apple, clearly wanting to avoid unpleasant appearances, has sent a team to investigate. Some reports have suggested the investigation is complete, but as of June 28, it was not. ‘We are still investigating the working conditions at Foxconn’s manufacturing plant in Longhua,’ says Apple spokesman Steve Dowling. ‘This is a thorough audit, which includes employee working and living conditions, interviews of employees and managers, compliance with overtime and wage regulations, and other areas as necessary to insure adherence to Apple’s supplier code of conduct. Apple’s supplier code of conduct sets the bar higher than accepted industry standards and we take allegations of noncompliance very seriously.’”

“Clearly, much about this situation is not yet known, and Apple is to be commended for springing into action when the allegations surfaced. Steve Jobs is a socially conscious person, and he associates with people of the same ilk,” Hesseldahl reports.

Hessledahl asks, “Rather than hire a Chinese company to build iPods, why couldn’t Apple build them in China in its own factory?”

Full article here.

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Apple rebuts Chinese iPod factory claims – June 13, 2006
iPods made in Chinese sweatshops? – June 13, 2006