Inside Foxconn: Exclusive access on the factory floor

Gain exclusive access to the Foxconn iPad factory in China. On the heels of his report about Mike Daisey's largely fabricated This American Life story, our China correspondent, Rob Schmitz is back with a new exclusive. Rob recently gained access to the Foxconn factory floor in Shenzhen, China, making him the first public media reporter (and only the second journalist) Apple has ever allowed into its Chinese supplier. Hear his exclusive reports on your local public radio station (week of April 9, 2012) or online anytime at marketplace.org.

Connect to the full video report:
http://youtu.be/5cL60TYY8oQ

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• Category

  News & Politics

[postalshack]

Preemptive disclaimer: if you boycott Apple gear because it's made in Foxconn, please also immediately boycott the following companies that use its factories:

- Dell

- HP

- Microsoft (Xbox 360)

- Nintendo (Wii)

- Nokia

- Sony

- And numerous others.

The difference between Apple and those companies: Apple's more successful and is actually doing something to improve the situation.

[Rahul Vangani]

well said bro....totalli agree

[postalshack]

Just remember that the cost of living is much lower in China, especially if you're with Foxconn and already have some of your needs covered by your employment (housing, for example). $7.25 an hour would be luxury for someone who's a factory worker in a country where the equivalent of less than a dollar might cover a decent meal.

[rpe33]

Fuck that shit...I love my Xbox and my iPad. I'm actually about to buy a PS3 too...thanks Mr. Chinaman!

[latexink]

Where's the video?

[tellyontellyon]

Madness. A Stalinist one party state providing the cheap labour to service capitalism in the West!

[moutottahazunai]

This video is garbage. It's 10 seconds of actual footage from one tiny angle, bracketed by long, pointless splash screens.

[linagee]

I just thought of something interesting. If China raised its minimum wage from $0.20/hr to $7.25/hr, they would be forced to automate many hundreds of thousands of jobs. What company would invest in robotic automation when you have cheap human labor? (I think I'm going to be sick after discovering this....)

Not sure what's better really. Having people employed at wages we would consider criminal, or not having people employed at all because there is even more automation?

[linagee]

I can think of a few theories:

- Box packing facility is different than the ipad making facility and the foam is merely for shipping between the two

- Foam keeps ipads clean during assembly instead of a conveyor belt

- These are some sort of "bulk/OEM" version of the device that retail customers never see.

[Евгений Мосунов]

iPads are not packed in foam plastic! Looks like something is fake here.