"We sell iPhones in over a hundred countries. We don't have an obligation to solve America's problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible."
— an unnamed Apple executive, in a New York Times article titled "How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work," which examines why Apple and other U.S. tech companies choose to make their products — the increasingly popularsmartphones, tablets, e-readers and more — overseas. Among the many complicated reasons, according to the article: the global economy; the scale, speed and flexibility of overseas factories; and the companies' belief that there is a lack of qualified American workers. One famous Chinese factory, Foxconn Technologies — which has many facilities in Asia and elsewhere — where an estimated 40 percent of the world's electronics are put together, was mentioned in the article as an example of massive scale. At Foxconn plants, workers live onsite in dorms and work 12 hours a day — at least officially. Foxconn has been in the news lately for other things: It apologized last week after CEO Terry Gou reportedly referred to Foxconn workers as animals, with the companysaying his comments were taken out of context. A couple of weeks ago, Foxconn said it had come to an agreement with some employees who had threatened to commit mass suicide over a pay dispute. By the way, Appleannounced earlier this month that it would allow independent monitoring of its suppliers' factories.
---SPSmith
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