There have been a string of suicides at the Foxconn industrial complex in China where products such as Apple’s iPhone and iPad are made. Why? This is because the average salary of a Chinese person is just over $4,000 a year and the workers in the Foxconn factory make 51 cents an hour while working 60 hours a week. Disturbing? Indeed.
What effects does this have on Apple’s image? To know their very pricey products are made in factories with regulation so tight that people are killing themselves. A few year back Nike ran into a similar debacle with their factories and they were labeled for exploiting cheap labor. Yet, their company still strives very strong. Is there going to be an Apple boycott in the near future? I highly doubt it. Americans thirst for consumption with little thought of what goes into making them. This does not cause a problem. At the same time Americans thirst for consumption at a cheaper price. This is passed to management and in their decision to outsource where they can exploit cheap labor as Apple does in China. What is shocking is that Foxconn’s CEO is worth 5.5 billion compared to Steve Jobs who is worth 6.1 billion. This is just a clear example of the disparities in wealth in China and their implications.
Will Apple’s image suffer? Not yet, but if things continue to get worse Apple will need to think wisely about who they outsource to. In the end, it could cost them a lot more in image diminishment than they save from cheaper labor.
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