Apple goes low-tech to solve iPhone woes

The California gadget-maker is hoping a $29 rubber-and-plastic case will put an end to the debate over the antenna on what Apple chief executive Steve Jobs calls "perhaps the best product we've ever made."

The bumper, which fits around the sides of the phone, will be offered free to all buyers of the iPhone 4 through the end of September, and customers who have already purchased the case will be reimbursed.

Abhey Lamba of the International Strategy and Investment Group said the financial impact of the expense would be "fairly insignificant" to the company behind the Macintosh computer, iPod, iPhone and the iPad.

"Assuming the cost of distributing a bumper to be about five dollars per unit and the number of bumpers as 10 million, total cost to the company could be about 50 million dollars," Lamba said.

Noting that Apple has sold more than three million iPhones in just three weeks, Lamba also said "clearly, the antenna issue has not made any dent in demand for the new phone."

"We expect the strong momentum to continue," said said, estimating that Apple will sell 37 million iPhones in fiscal 2010 and 44 million in fiscal 2011.

The iPhone 4 has been bedeviled with complaints about dropped calls from the moment it appeared on store shelves three weeks ago.

Some iPhone 4 users claimed they lost reception when holding the lower left corner of the phone -- whose unusual antenna wraps completely around the device -- in what has been referred to as the "death grip."

Consumer Reports, the influential product review magazine, said it could not recommend the device because of the problem, forcing Jobs to cut short his Hawaii vacation and return to San Francisco to address the controversy.

The Apple chief said the whole issue had been "blown so out of proportion" but apologized to any customers who experienced problems and offered the free cases as a fix.

"A lot of people have told us the bumper solves the signal strength problem," Jobs said at an event held at Apple headquarters to address "Antennagate." "OK, so let's give everybody a free case."

Jobs acknowledged "there's a problem" but stressed "it's affecting a small percentage of users and some of that problem is inherent in every smartphone."

"We're not perfect," he said. "Phones aren't perfect either."

Jobs acknowledged the iPhone 4 drops slightly more calls than the previous model, the iPhone 3GS, but said said other smartphones also drop reception if held in a certain way.

"It's certainly not unique to the iPhone 4," he said. "Every smartphone has this issue."

Gartner analyst Charles Smulders said problems such as those experienced by Apple are to be expected by firms operating on the cutting-edge.

"There are inherent risks when any company pushes the design and technology envelopes," Smulders said. "Apple pushes very hard on both fronts."

"I don't think they've had a lot of serious product issues over the years," said Mike McGuire, another Gartner analyst, adding that he expects the issue to blow over.

"From a consumer perspective, they've now told me how this is going to be dealt with," he said. "And they even said if I'm really still unhappy, I can return it.

"You can't ask for much more than that."

Scuffles erupt at Foxconn protest

SCUFFLES have erupted in Taiwan as activists alleging labour abuses by IT giant Foxconn tried to enter an exhibition centre where President Ma Ying-jeou was opening Asia's biggest technology fair.
The protesters, who were shouting "capitalists kill people" and holding placards and pictures of Foxconn chief Terry Gou, fought with uniformed police as they tried to deliver a letter to the President while he launched Computex Taipei.

Five other IT tycoons, including Apple chief executive Steve Jobs and Cher Wang, chairwoman of Taiwan's leading smartphone maker HTC Corp, were also targeted.

Foxconn, a unit of the Hon Hai group, makes a range of popular products including Apple iPhones, Dell computers and Nokia mobiles phones.

"All the products on display at the exhibition inside are made with workers' sweat and blood," demonstration leader Liu Nien-yun said.

They were campaigning as 10 workers at a Foxconn plant in the Chinese city of Shenzhen fell to their deaths in apparent suicides this year.

An 11th worker died at a factory run by the firm in northern China.

Demonstrations over the deaths have also taken place in Hong Kong.

The deaths have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where the activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm.

But the accusation of "blood and sweat" has been flatly rejected by Mr Gou, who for the first time last week organised a tour of the Shenzhen plant.

The firm is planning to give its staff a 20 per cent pay rise as it battles to stem the spate of suicides, according to Taiwanese media.

The conglomerate employs more than 800,000 people worldwide.

The five-day Computex Taipei, which has attracted more than 1700 exhibitors, features 4861 booths and is expected to attract about 120,000 visitors, including 35,000 international buyers, organisers say.

Read FULL ARTICLE HERE

Taiwan's Foxconn raising pay for workers

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Taiwanese electronics company buffeted by a spate of suicides at its China factories said Friday it will raise the pay of workers by an average of 20 percent.

The pay raises at Foxconn Technology Group have been in the works for months to cope with a labor shortage following China's recovery from the global recession, said a company official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

But the official said the big jump in pay could help to lift worker morale. "Feeling sad is contagious, and so is feeling happy," he said. "We hope the workers will have a positive attitude toward their lives."

The basic salary at the China plants of Foxconn Technology Group - which makes iPhones and other popular gadgets - is currently about 900 yuan ($130) per month.

Ten workers have killed themselves and three have attempted suicide at Foxconn's operations in southern China this year, involving mainly workers who jumped from buildings. The most recent suicide attempt involved a 25-year-old man who slashed his wrists in the factory dormitory Thursday. One additional Foxconn worker in northern China also committed suicide this year.

Labor activists accuse the company of having a rigid management style, an excessively fast assembly line and forced overwork. Foxconn denies the allegations.

The company, part of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is the world's largest contract maker of electronics. Its long list of big-name customers include Apple Inc., Sony Corp., Dell Inc., Nokia Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou led a media tour of the company's mammoth industrial park in Shenzhen earlier this week and promised to work harder to prevent more deaths.

See FULL ARTICLE

Justice Department Shifts Scrutiny to Apple’s Music Store

The Department of Justice is reportedly looking into Apple’s bullying ways in the digital music market, where its iTunes music store accounts for 70 percent of digital music sales and 28 percent of all music sales in the United States.

At issue: Apple’s objection to Amazon’s sale of certain albums exclusively, for one day and sometimes in advance of their official release dates, as part of a Daily Deal program launched nearly two years ago.

Since then, Amazon’s program apparently became too successful for Apple’s liking. Jobs and company began complaining to music executives about Amazon’s alleged special treatment around March of this year, according to Billboard.

For Apple, the situation came to a head when Amazon began asking labels participating in the program for free promotion on MySpace and other sites. “When that happened,” an anonymous music executive told Billboard, “iTunes said, ‘Enough of that shit.’”

Read more HERE

Alarm over Apple factory suicides May 27, 2010

The Chinese government has expressed concern over a series of employee suicides at a factory which makes electronic products including Apple's iPod and iPad.

So far this year nine Foxconn workers at the Taiwan-owned Foxconn plant in the southern city of Shenzhen have died after jumping from buildings.

Another employee committed suicide at a plant in northern China.

Critics have said employees at the factory are forced to work extended hours for low pay in sweatshop conditions.

A spokesman for China's state council said on Wednesday officials were working with Foxconn to implement effective measures to avoid further deaths.

"We welcome and encourage Taiwan companies to invest in the mainland," Yang Yi said in a statement.

"We also hope the employers would take care of their employees."

California-based Apple computers has said it is also evaluating steps taken by Foxconn to prevent further suicides.

'Saddened'

In a statement to the AFP news agency on Wednesday, Apple - which is preparing to launch its iPad computer tablet in countries outside the US on Friday - said it was committed to making sure workers in its supply chain were safe and treated
with respect.

Read FULL ARTICLE HERE

I promise not to kill myself: Apple factory workers 'asked to sign pledge' may 26, 2010

Apple manufacturer Foxconn was today taking extraordinary measures to safeguard its business and workers following a spate of suicides at its sprawling plant in southern China.

Workers have reportedly been told to sign letters promising not to kill themselves and even agree to be institutionalised if they appeared to be in an "abnormal mental or physical state for the protection of myself and others".

Nets were also reportedly being hung around buildings to deter suicidal employees.

Read Full article and video HERE

Apple Exposed

Apple recently released their 2010 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, which had some interesting findings. Along with the usual talk about Apple's dedication to workers rights, improving supplier management systems, and educating/protecting foreign contract workers, a final note was made about some rather troubling findings at some of Apples manufacturers.

According to the report, Apple has separated the violations to their fair labor contract into two categories, core and frequent violations. Core violations as Apple has put it are "the most serious class of violation. It refers to any practice or situation that we consider to be contrary to the core principles underlying Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct—and to require immediate corrective." Recruitment fee overcharges, underage workers, improper disposal of hazardous waste, and falsification of records all fall under this category. Frequent violations are seen as the incorrect implementation of Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct over many of their manufacturers facilities.

Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct "sets a maximum of 60 work hours per week and requires at least one day of rest per seven days of work, while allowing exceptions in unusual or emergency circumstances." According to the findings in the progress report Apple has discovered that 60 of their manufacturers have been exceeding the 60 hours a week 50% of the time. Also, the report stated that at 65 facilities more than half had records of workers working more than six consecutive days.

The report also mentions having found several cases where wages, compensation, and benefits were all being withheld improperly according to the Apple Supplier Code of Conduct. At 48 facilities Apple found that overtime wages were being improperly calculated and recorded, resulting in the workers not being paid for their labor. In another instance, Apple discovered 24 facilities had wages below the minimum wage set by Apple's code. The report also detailed the finding of many cases where legally required benefits were being withheld; this was found at 57 facilities.

I think it is important to note two things. The first is that in many of these cases Apple is imposing their own regulations, which are often far more strict than those of the local government. In the case of workers being paid below the minimum wage, this is Apples minimum wage, not that this justifies the underpayment but simply for perspective on the situation. The second thing to take note of is that this Supplier Code of Conduct is not legally required of Apple. Many of the local governmental regulations and requirements of Apple's facilities are far below what Apple expects from them.

Finally, although Apple recognizes and offers solutions to these violations they do not give much detail as to how their solutions are implemented or the success in the past. Many of their solutions read as follows, "To address these issues, we required each facility to develop management systems—or improve existing systems—to drive compliance with Apple’s limits on work hours and required days of rest." In my opinion this is a way for Apple to cop out and put all the responsibility on the manufacturer. For example, in the solution they require the facility to develop their own management system to solve the issue. This seems problematic because, as in many cases, the manufacturers will often revert back to their local standards as soon as the audit it over.

I have only touched on a few issues brought up in Apple's 2010 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report. If you you would like read more, do so by following this link to Apple's 2010 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report.