Factory Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Foxconn Brazil workers reportedly threaten to strike

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 27th, 2012)

According to a report from TechGuru, workers in Foxconn's Brazil plant are threatening to strike. Factory workers in a Jundiai, Brazil plant cite overcrowded buses, poor quality food and lack of water as their primary complaints. The United Steelworkers of Jundiaí and Region said Foxconn ...

Protestors planning to be at Apple Stores again this Friday

by Mike Schramm (Mar 15th, 2012)

TUAW has gotten word that protestors are planning at assemble at some Apple Stores in Washington, DC's Georgetown, New York City, and San Francisco this Friday, presumably in anticipation of the new iPad's release. These campaigns are being run from Change.org by Mark Shields, who sounds ...

Foxconn raises Chinese worker wages

by Mike Schramm (Feb 17th, 2012)

Foxconn has been back in the news lately for an investigation, commenced by Apple's request, into its worker practices. Perhaps influenced by those actions (though perhaps not), Foxconn has raised some of its pay levels by 16 to 25 percent. Depending on the worker and the results of some testing, ...

Protests against iPhone factory conditions planned at Apple Stores

by Mike Schramm (Feb 8th, 2012)

Stories about troubling factory conditions at Foxconn are all too familiar, unfortunately, but hearing that protestors are planning to do something about it is new. GigaOM reports that this Thursday, representatives from Change.org and Sumofus.org are planning to bring petitions to Apple Stores in ...

Apple's A5 processor now manufactured in Texas

by Chris Rawson (Dec 16th, 2011)

"Designed by Apple in California" -- you'll find that on virtually every Apple product. While it's well-known that the brains of Apple's outfit are indeed housed in California, it's almost as well-known that Apple's products are almost wholly manufactured overseas. Indeed, Apple has been a target ...

Brazil's iPad production deal is 'in doubt'

by Chris Rawson (Sep 29th, 2011)

Tech product manufacturer Foxconn has been in talks with Brazil to open a factory in that country for some time now, but apparently talks have begun to break down. Reuters now says the proposed US$12 billion deal is "in doubt" because Brazil lacks skilled labor and isn't meeting Foxconn's ...

China urges Foxconn to ensure worker safety

by Dana Franklin (May 25th, 2011)

It's been another rough week for Foxconn, Apple's biggest manufacturing partner. After an explosion at a Foxconn factory killed three workers last Friday, the Chinese government urged the manufacturer and other Taiwanese companies to better ensure the safety of their employees. "We hope ...

Apple issues statement on Foxconn explosion

by Michael Grothaus (May 20th, 2011)

Apple has issued a statement to All Things Digital regarding the tragic explosion that occurred at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, China earlier today. The explosion killed 2 workers and injured at least 16 others. In the statement Apple said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at ...

A look inside the Foxconn factory

by Kelly Hodgkins (Dec 27th, 2010)

French journalist and photographer Jordan Pouille revisited a Foxconn factory in Longhua, China and reported on factory conditions in the wake of a highly publicized pay raise for its Chinese workers. This pay raise came in response to criticism over a rash of suicides occurring at this Longhua ...

Foxconn hiring and relocating 400,000 workers

by Mike Schramm (Aug 19th, 2010)

The recent issues at Foxconn haven't actually slowed the company down, apparently -- it has announced that it will be hiring 400,000 more workers at new plants in China, thanks to a 50 percent increase in revenue lately. The total number of people working at Foxconn will be estimated at 1.3 ...

Dick Durbin presses Apple on human rights in China

by Mike Schramm (Feb 2nd, 2010)

Technology relations with China and their human rights situation is turning into a hot-button issue lately, especially given Google's recent troubles with that country. Now, my old senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, has decided to raise the level of scrutiny, calling for a list of 30 companies, ...

iSuppli estimates the iPhone 3GS costs $179 to make

by Mike Schramm (Jun 25th, 2009)

Did you know that after it is broken down into all of its composite metals and materials and parts, your human body is really only worth about $4.50? Yup, you're cheap in the broadest sense -- all of that oxygen, magnesium, iron, and sodium isn't actually worth all that much in the rare metals ...

Inside the Phone Factory

by Erica Sadun (Jul 28th, 2008)

Here's a sweet little treat. Over at ReMoveTheLabels.com, a poster's mom apparently bought an iPhone and found a surprise waiting for her on the onboard camera roll: three pictures. Two were blurry but the third is a real surprise: a picture straight from the iPhone production line. Look at all ...

Flickr Find: Inside an Apple manufacturing plant

by Scott McNulty (Jan 15th, 2007)

It looks like Flickr user dinsdale79 was lucky enough to get an inside tour of Apple's manufacturing plant in Ireland. He took a bunch of pictures, though nothing of a sensitive nature (so I am pretty sure no one will be fired over these pictures, so no need to comment about that). This is a chance ...

Solution for broken car interfaces with new iPod software

by David Chartier (Sep 15th, 2006)

We don't know how wide-spread this problem is, but I figured if this frustrating complicatioin happened to one user, he probably isn't the only one: SecurityMonkey at the ITtoolbox Blogs posted a tragic story with a happy ending involving Apple's latest iPod software update and factory car ...