Apple Discloses Component Suppliers of iPad, iPhone, iPod

Good on 'em.

That's... actually really cool. Good job.

Good on marketing and legal side since their image was starting to get affected by suicides and explosions in factories.

Issue: Loss of lives in one or more facilities.

Apple response: We required facilities to train their employees to properly keep themselves alive to reduce attrition rates due to death to acceptable levels.

... some people on the report do look underage.

I'm not exactly an Apple fan, but that at least seems to show a little corporate responsibility. Let's just hope some Wikileaks undercover thing does not dig up some dirt to disgrace the applaudable effort.

Yeah, it's me; Glass Half Empty Boy :-)

Apple's commitment:

We regularly commit audits to make it seem like we're concerned about our employee working conditions to maintain our spotless public image. If these facilities are found to be unethical, we will wave our finger at them and tell them not to do it again, then walk off with no further sanction. We will however continue to use these facilities...cause I mean, what do you expect us to do...hire american? Those guys have UNIONS.

child labor in a large portion of the world isnt there because its cheap labor, but its really the only way those people eat, or have any quality of life.

i know one area, forgot the country, one of the child laborers said that it was either that or prostitution.

lets also not forget that the "sweat shops" usually pay better than other jobs in that area/country.

you cant force first world views on impoverished third world countries.

Agree. Although might sound bad to us with different view and system, it's the way of life there. And it's not factories or corporate giants to blame, it's the local government.

What age is considered child labour and what are they doing? I had a job when I was 12 picking berries at a farm. There are jobs kids can do and enjoy doing, and it's a harmless way to make money. As others have pointed out, sometimes the only way some families can survive over there.

The same rationale people here and abroad provide for child labour are the same arguments people were giving a century ago to lobby against Child Labour laws.

It's not just "local" governments to blame. It's the people demanding (ie. hiring) and labour regulators at fault here. I'm not blaming a company who wrongfully was duped into hiring someone underaged but companies knowingly and intentionally hire some underage since they tend to work for less money, hence increase their profits.

It's quite basic and general knowledge to know that the strict enforcement of child labour laws is a net positive for society and the economy over time.

Basically almost everything you import is made in places where underage labor is used or the Government treats it people like crap or the average person lives on $3 a day, etc. That's the harsh truth.

The other harsh truth is that as long as you can get cheap cheesburgers, cable TV and have internet to post pictures on Facebook the average American couldn't give a monkeys if those foreign factories were powered by furnaces running on dead babies.

back_by_demand: When products / brands are known to use child labour or sweetshops the negative publicity is immense. Clothing makers found to have used child labour (knowingly and even unknowingly) have had sales fall.

I still remember the "scandal" regarding Kathie Lee Gifford in 1996. And there are examples throughout the years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathi [...] op_scandal

People do give a crap, not always and not for all injustices but there are many examples in the past and present where deplorable working conditions have led to changes.

Apple products are made by foxconn.... enough said.

I wouldn't touch a foxconn component with a 10 foot pole.

More Apple propaganda. Companies concerned about environmental issues make products that can be serviced, not ones that require replacement when their battery fails.

So you don't use any Apple, Microsoft, Acer, Asus, Barnes & Noble, Dell, Cisco, HP, Intel, IBM, Lenovo, Logitech, MSI, Motorola, Netgear, Nintendo, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, Vizio.

Foxcomm may not make all the products from the above companies, but the above companies do use Foxconn.

So how do you verify what you buy does not have a Foxconn component? Do you know who manufacturers all the components in what you buy?

China's authoritarian regime has a terrible human rights record. During apartheid, American universities were at the forefront of the movement to boycott South Africa. Where is that moral high ground when these same universities make deal after deal with China? There was very little cost for those universities to divest from South Africa but now they are deeply dependent on these investments and deals with China. The American economy and national security are endangered by these deals. Read more at www.china-threat.com

Do you really trust Apple, a company that drives its business practices on profit margin, to fully disclose everything? Some of the information might not be the worst case stories out there.

Foxconn components are used by everyone these days. As problematic as they are, I think they're better than the small Chinese companies with no QC or oversight of any kind.

Part of me wonders why the released the information. Perhaps something bad is coming?

Good move by Apple.

Apple at least made information available publicly. The workers who threatened suicide were making parts for Xbox 360's so think about what conditions are like for other corporations that use Foxconn parts who haven't disclosed anything yet.

I wonder what caused the explosion. Things don't just explode for no reason. Something was handled very badly for it to explode, and that itself is proof that there is something worse going on here than they are trying to admit. Obviously people doing dangerous jobs without proper training, poor environment, lack of safety requirements ETC ETC, there is no excuse for any credible company having even one Explosion leading to death, but two is just obvious negligence.

Please link to the disclosures that ASUS, Acer, IBM/Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, and Sony make.

I understand you are being critical for a good reason, but let's be fair.

Environmental....phhhh there are no/little in way of regulations in the countries apple produces it's products in.

Oh dear lord are people actually saying child labour is acceptable because these folks are poor....

The reason why there is child labour laws is that kids should be in school trying to get some kind of education so they don't end up as cheap labour, if child labour laws are not enforced another generation is lost to sweat shops and exploitation and the rich get richer and poor get poorer, education offers a small chance of equalization, which will never happen if child labour laws are not enforced

The real question is, what company DOESN'T drive its business practices on profit margin? Isn't the entire point of any company, especially public companies, to make a profit?

Granted I doubt that Apple disclosed everything, but the fact they disclosed something is miles better than what I've seen from the other 20+ companies that use Foxconn.

Sorry, nothing bad to see here.

Apple recently joined the FLA (Fair Labour Association). They are the first technology company to do so. Previously FLA's members included clothing and shoe manufacturers (the worst offenders for child labour).

FLA has certain requirements from its members. One is to disclose results of audits. The other one is they must provide a list of every single company or supplier they buy from. This is why Apple released the names of all their 156 suppliers, the first time in history anyone has ever had access to this information about Apple.

It's a bold move for Apple. Previously all the haters would constantly snoop around to see what Foxconn was doing (look at all the comments in this thread - all reference Foxconn and no references to any other Apple suppliers). Now that Apple has "outed" all their suppliers I'm sure people will be swarming all over them trying to find even more dirt of who "evil" Apple deals with.

As to the child labout, I'm shocked they only found 13 cases at their plants. With tens of thousands of emplyees I would have though that number was much higher. Clearly their suppliers aren;t using child labour to save money as 13 labourers mean nothing out of the huge number of people employed making products for Apple. Most likely (since the report states the companies couldn't properly identify their age) is they were 15 year olds who decided they'd rather work then go to school. Just like kids here in the US drop out of school and want to work instead, and often lie about their age so they can find work.

I believe Apple is supporting fair labour. I also believe they will charge consumers 25% more for the 10% increased production cost.

Of course they do. Being 'good' is only worth it if the effort is rewarded in cold hard ca$h :-)
Kinda like paying you 5 cents to recycle a bottle instead of doing it because it is the right thing to do.

Chinese people don't even like Americans, why not bring the jobs back to the US. Lets say because of the US labor cost, phones go up , your paying for a 2 year contract, phones go up to 600 bucks, who cares.

because china can destroy us economicly right now if they want to. we pull out, they have 2 trillion of our debt, our economy cant handle the backlash, but china could easily take advantage of that if push come to shove.