The American television station ABC aired for the first time a comprehensive documentary about the Foxconn facilities that are manufacturing Apple products such as the iPhone and iPad. ABC’s Nightline had an exclusive look into the living facilities and factories of Foxconn, likely to be caused by the fact that ABC is party of Disney, which still have close ties with Apple, thanks to the involvement of Steve Jobs at both companies. Many will ask themselves the question, is this really an objective documentary?
Maybe it isn’t, but there were still a large number of painful subjects, such as a series of suicides, which led to the installation of suicide netting to stop the suicide attempts of its employees. The guys from ‘The Verge’ have summarized the main points and it doesn’t look good.
More after the break!
Here are the most interesting facts of ABC’s ‘iFactory: Inside Apple’:
- 141 steps have to be taken before the iPhone is ready to ship to retailers.
- Manufacturing an iPad takes 5 days and more than 325 hands.
- More than 300,000 camera modules for the iPad are being made one a single day.
- Foxconn employees are working in shifts of 12 hours a day, they have a 2 hour break in the middle of each shift.
- Workers make around $1.78 an hour.
- Workers pay for their own food; 70 cents per meal.
- Workers who live in the dorms have to pay Foxconn $17.50 a month, they will have to sleep with 6 to 8 people in a single room.
- New workers all receive a 3 day training and teambuilding sessions before they get started at the production line.
The documentary summed everything together that happened in the last couple years, and led to the negative messages regarding the living and working conditions in the Foxconn facilities. Many of them were also heavily criticizing the products of Apple, while the company is also manufacturing products of other brands as well, such as Microsoft, Sony, and many more. Perhaps it’s the fame of Apple that is hitting them this time, the company probably had to much success stories in the last view years that it was time for people to hear the dark side behind the products. During the documentary was found out that the percentage of suicides at Foxconn is actually lower than the Chinese national average. Foxconn reacted by installing nets, raise wages and offer psychological assistance to everyone that needs it.
One of the biggest problems at these facilities is the fact that the work is extremely repetitive, low paying, and the living facilities are small (6-8 people on one room). Nevertheless, there is still a large group of people that can’t wait to work in the Foxconn factories. ABC visited a nearby village to compare the living conditions; residents told them that they thank the factories and the young people that their life had gone ahead.
Foxconn CEO Louis Woo also gave an interview; he said that he would like to see that Apple is going to demand that the salaries of the staff will be doubled. According to Woo it’s Apple that has to take the first step.
The documentary: ‘iFactory: Inside Apple’ is not yet available online, although there is a small teaser-video of a couple of days ago. This article will be updated when the video is available on the ABC website.
