Why are iPhones made in China?

Apple has been trying to address the ongoing Foxconn suicides with increased transparency. Articles are simultaneously appearing that attempt to explain the migration of manufacturing jobs as being rooted less in wages (and the accompanying “cheap” products that go with low cost labour) and more in government regulations that facilitate the industry.

Here’s some of what’s being said.

• 1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to Blame?

• Foxconn Is Still a Hard Place to Work

• This American Life Podcast: Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory [performance adapted from "The Agony & the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" and investigative report]

• Apple Sheds (Some) Light On Suppliers & Their Working Conditions

• Steve Jobs Freaked Out A Month Before First iPhone Was Released And Demanded A New Screen

• Apple, America & a Squeezed Middle Class: How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work

• America’s Dirty War Against Manufacturing

• In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad

• Introducing the iFactory (How Apple can fix Foxconn)

http://youtu.be/meTtNnEo4-8

I have an iPhone, among other Apple products. I’d pay more for the next one so that people don’t have to be woken up in the middle of the night, given a cup of tea, and sent to work on an assembly line. Or maybe Apple—who made $400,000 in profit per employee last year—could kick in a little.

@miguelcarrasco @darrenosadchuk How do we create demand for socially just production if we don't talk about about bad conditions?

January 11, 2012 10:08 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@EricaGlasier

Erica Glasier ♥