Apple, Tech Brands Rattled by Foxconn

What price technology? As Apple unveils its next wave of products at its worldwide developers conference today, one of its key tech suppliers is in the spotlight and under fire.

The allegations that Foxconn, headquartered in Taiwan with production in southern China, is a tech sweatshop and a human rights flouter, are having such an effect on Apple's brand that CEO Steve Jobs was forced to address the situation at last week's D8 conference in Silicon Valley. In the clip above, he called the rash of employee suicides at Foxconn " very troubling" and reassured Apple-watchers, "we're all over this."

Jobs also said that Foxconn's manufacturing facility "is not a sweatshop," and that "for a factory, it's a pretty nice factory," citing its on-site hospitals, restaurants, movie theaters and swimming pools. That appears to be part of the problem for workers who live there 24/7 and never get away from Foxconn.

Apple, which relies on Foxconn for production of products including the Mac mini, iPod, iPad, and iPhone, isn't the only mega-tech brand to rely on the supplier.Continue reading...