With the announcement of the brand new iPhone 5, Apple Inc will have people lining up for hours outside of their stores to get their hands on the brand new device.
The overly-eager iPhone fanatics aren’t the only ones lining up though; many reports reveal that Foxconn, the largest manufacturer of Apple products, are forcing students to work assembly lines for ten hours a day, in order to comply with the huge demand for the upcoming iPhone.
This is not the first time Foxconn has been under scrutiny, a few years back, several workers have committed suicide; while there were various reports revealing the company of:
“illegal amounts of overtime, crowded working conditions, under-age workers, improper disposal of hazardous waste and, in some cases, industrial accidents that have killed four people and injured more than 100“
(Source: TheNewYorkTimes)
Seeing as how Apple is now the most valuable company today, their major manufacturer partner would be thought to meet standards higher than such. Furthermore, the recent lawsuit between Samsung and Apple revealed court documents stating Apple’s profit margin on each iPhone is 49-58% percent. One could only wonder why it’s the company’s ethics that would be the tradeoff in their journey to the riches.