Foxconn Suicides Eng

Toks Ogun Tko · Top Commenter
“Everything follows from our own unwillingness to pay for the true cost of a device. People want a better world, but they don’t want to pay for it.” This leads to so many problems in the world.

Patrick R. Gibbons · Subscribe · Top Commenter · Las Vegas, Nevada
Nonsens. If we paid the true cost there would be no profit because the price would be lower.

Toks Ogun Tko · Top Commenter
Patrick R. Gibbons True, there would be no profit.

H S Kumar Swamy · Hardware Design Engineer at QUALCOMM Incorporated
Excellent post John, in large manufacturing this kind of work culture is imminent. Large Infrastructure + Unskilled labour = Cheap Manufacturing. But as times change, people understand this and we can see FOXCONN investing in R&D...makes sense. I am sure one day things wont be cheap anymore....but that 'one day' will take a lone time to come....

Looking forward for tomorrow's post.

Xander Mahony · San Francisco, California
Well, it was smart of China to invest heavily in infrastructure to allow the cheap labor to be used effectively. They aren't the only country with cheap labor, just the most organised.

Granda Freeman
working 10 hrs a day while standing is nothing new.. they call it overtime in the states and people do it gladly.. you know recession n all.
And please its all economics.. how about those poor farmers in colombia making pennis on the dollar per kilo of cocaine that goes for 50k wholesale in america, or those dudes somewhere in africa - ripping coffee beans for 10 cents a pound.. that we get raped by starbucks for 5 bucks a cup. 5 Damn bucks..
Ill take my 100 tablet any day - on the other end of the world.. they have jobs :)
3 cheers for Foxcon.

Nathan Root · Subscribe · UCF
Enjoying this series, but this article needs another strike of an editors pen.

Subhasish Ghosh · Subscribe
another garbage, pro-US, anti-China propaganda article from TC. china is right now the most preferred partner for investment for most US VC Funds. they ain't the most cheap place on earth - but most organized and they get the work done at the best rates unlike smart-ass US companies who overcharge and then fail to deliver :)

Granda Freeman
tell em.. - i love my free iphone 3gs. :)

Rahil Bhansali · Subscribe · Top Commenter · NYU
This actually isn't a pro-US, anti-China post. Remove your TC hatred hat and you will realize that John is just talking about the manufacturing process in a modern day growing economy. Forget it's in China, forget it's at Foxconn. This is the reality of manufacturing today.

Automation is replacing manual labor, companies are competing on costs and the young labor is also getting restless and prefer flexible lifestyles. No where do I see him making any anti-China post. In-fact in his earlier two articles, he has praised and commented on problems at Foxconn.

Jason Gerard Clauss · Top Commenter · University of Washington
Hey Subhasish... take your PROC, communist shit elsewhere. One day in the near future, Hu and his cronies will be impaled on restorationist bayonets and crowds will be tearing down and defacing pictures of that fat degenerate Mao. In the meantime, we can only hasten that day by supporting American made goods.

Jason Gerard Clauss · Top Commenter · University of Washington
Within the next ten years, 3D printing will become so effective that China will lose all its manufacturing advantage. Combine that with a rising middle class over there that can't stand to live under the drone system and there will be no reason to manufacture anything over there.

Arron Washington · Top Commenter · Owner / Captain of Awesome at The Radical Edwards
Dude, what is with that first paragraph? You start off talking about a company getting raided, and then... now we're talking about Foxconn's work environment?

Then, robots!

John Biggs · Subscribe · Top Commenter · Gadgets Editor at TechCrunch
It will all become clear

Paul Denlinger · Subscribe · University of St Andrews
I would like to know what the policy of the Chinese government is going to be when it comes to robots replacing humans on manufacturing lines. Supposedly Foxconn employs more than 1M workers, and the Chinese govt is very concerned about keeping unemployment low in the name of social stability. So, if Foxconn starts hiring fewer human workers, other manufacturers are likely to follow the Foxconn lead and will also robotize their lines. Then what will the Chinese govt do?

David Li · Subscribe · Güney Kaliforniya Üniversitesi
haha, robots are not replacement yet. they are productivity enhancing tools. Also, robots will likely to be the solution of the aging workforce.

Nelson Hernandez · Top Commenter · Software Engineer at StarGreetz
does anyone know what it would cost comparatively o manufacture a tablet device here in the US vs. China? It's not that I doubt China being cheaper, I'm just curious what the multiplier is.

Andrei Ion · Top Commenter
The product will be with about 5% cheaper to manufacture in China than in the US... those 5% mean a lot for many companies.

Nelson Hernandez · Top Commenter · Software Engineer at StarGreetz
Andrei Ion , thanks. It still seems illogical to me as a consumer. I can't think of a single thing I wouldn't pay 5% more for the peace of mind a fellow american is employed. It would seem to me with the high unemployment occurring here if there is an opportunity to disrupt chinese manufacturing in some way, just needs some careful thought and ingenuity. Anyway, thanks.
Reply · Like · 22 saat önce

Brett Radler · Top Commenter · Founder at 86Serving.com
Andrei Ion Its got to be more then that! Unless they have a full automated assembly line... Any supporting links for reference?


Vadim Berman · Top Commenter
As one of the few techies out there who used to work on menial jobs, I can testify that "standing 10 hours a day" is not really that rare in so-called first world economies (even though maybe not on the kind of jobs John is talking about). SACOM sound like phonies who've learned about the world from TV and the internet. There is child labour, small money-grabbing employers, deadly work conditions, but no, let's attack Foxconn for bad dormitory management.

Thomas Vellaringattu · Subscribe · Top Commenter · Founder at SocialPulse.com
A good cause by Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) http/://sacom.hk/ is a Hong Kong-based organization strives for labour rights in Mainland China. But I wonder how long Mainland China will allow them to operate an open protest about businesses in China and how Apple will handle it!

John White
An aside: A zillion thanks for mentioning Peter Hessler; I'd long since forgotten his name. Oracle Bones was a dazzling read.

Alan Wilensky · Top Commenter
From a family friend who is 50% hands on owner of a PCB plant that contracts for Dell, HP, and Apple: "In Shenzen proper, wehere our large automated plant is, we raised wages voluntarily by 300% in 3 years. I was thankfully tuned in enough to feel the pot starting to boil - even though we were paying above market rate - and, our Chinese, Western MBA and Manufacturing engineers knew that even +40% over market was not going to be enough to keep our workers and their families (left behind in the provinces) happy. All around us, every other plant, large and small, foreign owned or domestic, had frequent strikes and worker actions, as often as twice a week; that was in 2009-2010.

"I was disturbed at how the provincial police put down these picketers in cooperation with the factory owner's goons (contract security, often South Afri...See More

Shanmuga Subramanian · Subscribe · Top Commenter · Chennai (Madras), India
Good one..:)

Bhupendra Khanal · Subscribe · Top Commenter · CEO at InRev Systems
I would say these are good problems to have for any country. With such a huge trained workforce, there can be hundreds of other manufacturing companies emerging offering better work environment.

I am saying this also because I have seen the US Manufacturing Company workers and their working condition. Most of the Mexican immigrants, regufees from Burma, Bhutan, Iraq and other nations are pushed to the jobs with little or no training. They are not given leave or time off. So lets not blame Chinese companies or Foxconn.

Also, to note: Lowest payer in Indian big manufaturing sector is Nokia, a Finnish company. A report claimed it to be paying just INR 6600 (~$126) per month.

Cheers for Foxconn!

Chris Sebastian · Top Commenter
TechCrunch needs a copy editor troll #234234: what's an "advtantage"?

Will Jammer · Monmouth
you get what you pay for

Boris Gutierrez · Los Angeles, California
It was made in China

Will Jammer · Monmouth
and they were behind schedule....

Yoni Ende · Top Commenter · Delray Beach, Florida
Great article. Crazy part is that robots to fulfill the repetitive tasks are inevitable but what will all the people do then? At least India is shifting towards services. China needs to make a big push towards skilled services.