Chinese workers reportedly toil in "iPod City"

In much the same way that we'd rather not think about how the Big Macs we eat were produced, we also often ignore the manner in which our favorite gadgets are manufactured, because it's not as fun listening to tunes when you consider that the person who put together your DAP could be living like an indentured servant. And according to a recent report by the UK's Daily Mail entitled "iPod City," indentured servitude might not be a bad description of the working conditions inside the city-size Chinese factories that assemble the iPod nano and Shuffle, where the employees reportedly make about $50-a-month and live in crowded dormitories as thanks for working 15-hour days. It should be noted that even though the Mail story is supposedly based on first-hand reporting, their claim of 200,000 workers at one plant has been called into question, and at least one other factory owned by the same manufacturer has been certified by the International Labor Organization as free of human rights violations. While Apple certainly isn't the only device maker to outsource labor overseas, Wired points out that the company's tacit support of possibly-questionable working conditions is all the more ironic in the wake of its Think Different campaign, which featured the socially-conscious Gandhi and Caesar Chavez, among others. Unfortunately, our own lust for the latest and greatest products only helps fuel the vicious cycle that forces companies to drive down wages and seek the cheapest possible labor, so until we find a way to break our gadget addiction, we'll all be complicit in these practices to some degree.

Read- MacWorld summary of Daily Mail story [Thanks, Marc P.]
Read- Wired analysis [Via Slashdot]

[Tommy Mang @ Jun 13th 2006 1:29PM]

Shame on you Apple!

[diulei @ Jun 13th 2006 1:29PM]

And imagine, without them, our iPods would be twice as expensive if they were made in the good ol US of A.

[Fuzz @ Jun 13th 2006 1:32PM]

"And imagine, without them, our iPods would be twice as expensive if they were made in the good ol US of A."

Or Apple would make half as much profit. . .

[chris g @ Jun 13th 2006 1:40PM]

Oh!!! Come on... Any gadget you buy that is made in China or where ever is made just like that. Funny how people can't find fault in the product go after its production. STFU!!!

[ChronoZaga @ Jun 13th 2006 1:47PM]

I love how people point a finger at developing nations and damn them for their lack of labor laws, and pretend we didn't go through the same thing in the US during the industrial revolution.

Think about it. Without relaxed labor laws, developing nations cannot develope an industrial base, which will employ their people, who will eventually benefit from labor laws, once the industrial base has taken roots. If labor laws were put in place now, the employees would simply get nothing, as opposed to the meager living they make now. It's simply a matter of selecting the lesser of two evils, and a slow progression of labor laws is the obvious choice.

[Mark 2000 @ Jun 13th 2006 1:48PM]

I can't believe the way some of you people are reacting. This kind of abuse is the supposed reason we invade countries. Its funny how if American companies do it its ok, but a if a foriegn dictator does it he's a danger to the world.

[Big Ed @ Jun 13th 2006 1:51PM]

Big deal, they make more than the people that make the useless crap for wal mart.

[fancy leprachaun @ Jun 13th 2006 1:54PM]

You must ask, is their choice of work voluntary?
Can they leave at any time?
What are the work alternatives?
And was this environment of scarce/non-scarce job opportunities forced upon them in some way?

Working 15 hours a day 6 days a week... I doubt anyone would volunteer for that if other choices were available.

The Chinese government is now fascist, so it joins together with its crony state-capitalists to enrich themselves and...

voila! American-style plutocracy.

Their population, centralized one-party power, and history of domination over their acquiescent masses, makes for a fascist plutocratic powerhouse, that will easily outpace the US in mere years.

The only hope for the US people to continue in upward prosperity is to free the market completely.

[kristopher bennewise @ Jun 13th 2006 1:55PM]

Well odds are, that the company in question has a few "front" operations, which they get certified, and that is where they bring all of their prospective customers. They tour the plant, get fed some bs about how this is where their product will be made, sign the deal, apple execs leave never to return, and then big chinese corporation subs out the work to its "slave labour division". Just my opinion, but apple porbbly didnt know they were supporting slave labor.
Besides that, 50 a month and free room and board is good money compared to what these people made in their remote, almost 3rd world villages in the chinese outback.
Complain cause the poor people in this world cant eat or sustain themselves, and then complain when companies move in and give them jobs... :)

[3rdsun @ Jun 13th 2006 1:57PM]

it just takes one worker to swipe a pod once a month, sell it on ebay and he'd be living large. Imagine if it was a whole crate.

[capn @ Jun 13th 2006 1:59PM]

Welcome to Globalisation, baby!

The bad thing with this is that all we "west world people" cant do so much against these situations in those fabrics bc its very hard for all of us to resist against ADVERTISEMENTS!
All day long they are showing successful people at TV with all the newest gadgets and "hip" jobs. Without those "popular" gadgets, produced for a very low price in China or 3rd World countries, we would be nothing in "our" world. We are just sheeps with money and we dont know how to define ourselves in a healthy way instead through buying unnecessary things the most time in our life.

And not to forget, Im one of those sheeps, too :(

[len @ Jun 13th 2006 2:02PM]

This isn't necessary to develop an industrial base. This is necessary to develop an industrial base that attracts foreign investment. Otherwise they just go to the country with even weaker labor protections. It's two legs better, baby!

[NeoteriX @ Jun 13th 2006 2:06PM]

"And imagine, without them, our iPods would be twice as expensive if they were made in the good ol US of A."

As maybe they should be. We "need" iPods as much as we need third nipples. It's all thanks to our materialist, consumerist society.

[abigsmurf @ Jun 13th 2006 2:07PM]

trusting a story from the Daily Hate?

anything they print which isn't a lie is at least a half truth

[Spud @ Jun 13th 2006 2:07PM]

I'm sure Creative employees work in much better conditions (/sarcasm).. or better yet.. Sandisk. Perhaps they can use this in their next ipod "guerilla" marketing campaign.. iSlave.

[Todd @ Jun 13th 2006 2:12PM]

Wow, shocking - what do the altruistic, im-beter-than-you, tree hugging, world-AIDS-crisis Mac people think about this?

What color will the iPod navigation wheel be to represent Chinese slave labor?

[Pai @ Jun 13th 2006 2:12PM]

healthcare food and housing are normally paid by the employer btw. It's normal in China for workers in factory towns to be housed by the manufacturer. My sister in law works in a factory town near Guanglong. It's a tight wage but not as bad as it sounds.

[bob @ Jun 13th 2006 2:14PM]

so, the same as sony - also made by the same company etc etc, prob half the electronics productions, but best put it in headlines cause its apple - and we all hate apple dont we - cause we dont want it to become popular and have to relearn an operating system!!!!

[Chaz @ Jun 13th 2006 2:20PM]

This is not just Apple people. It's funny how this is now interesting to people because it's shown publicly but there have been many different documentaries on this subject. My favorite of recent documentaries is "Mardi Gras - Made in China". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436569/

Basically shows a setup like this but instead of making a usefull gadget like an iPod they are making plastic beads. If you get a chance to watch this do!

--Chaz

[ve @ Jun 13th 2006 2:28PM]

when did this blog (assuming it can still be considered as such) get so deep. snap out of it, man, and gimme the good stuff.

[cccp @ Jun 13th 2006 2:38PM]

More proof that corporations are evil.

[funetik @ Jun 13th 2006 2:39PM]

I was thinking of that docu when I read this, Chaz. You beat me to it ;

[Monkey @ Jun 13th 2006 2:50PM]

We Need iPods as Much as We Need a Third Nipple.

I for one would love to have a third nipple. Why? Why not! My stance on third nipples is devoid of any sexual connotation, and I will not discuss the sexual benefits of a third nipple. Instead I will talk to you about the amazing benefits of both third nipples and iPods.

The prudish FCC may tremble at the possibility of polynipplia as a wide spread condition (poly=many nipplia=Latin for nipple). But society may rest assured; a race of three-nipple humans is nothing to fear.

Triple nipples like iPods are bound to generate an economic boom, and develop new forms of social interaction. As anybody with three nipples can attest there is a huge market of accessories and care products for nipple care, just as there is a huge market that revolves around the iPod. The new nipple related industry will generate wealth and jobs, just like digital music and the iPod have done.

Furthermore triple nipples and iPods are great conversation starters and people organize social networks around them. Groups devoted to iPods and third nipples abound on the Internet, these groups challenge the convention that new media and nipples isolate the individual, and are passive endeavors

So the next time you hear somebody say “We need iPods as much as we need triple nipples” say: “Hell Yeah!”

In the interest of journalistic integrity I must disclose that the writer of this article, while having no third nipple, is a shareholder at iNipple.

brooklyn22.com

[cubemonkey @ Jun 13th 2006 2:52PM]

WWBD (What Would Bono Do?)

[Andy @ Jun 13th 2006 2:54PM]

This is sort of like saying that Kurt Cobain, with all his million$, was happier than I am with my $40,000 annual wage. It's our perception of money that makes this look so bad. I may have more opportunities, but that doesn't mean that I'm superior, just because I have more money and (as a matter of perspective) a better environment than these Chinese workers.

If people stop buying iPods, then these people will have to find new jobs. Who ever started this story does not care about those people, they're only starting propaganda to attack Apple.

[Alex @ Jun 13th 2006 2:59PM]

Hey Todd,

Wipe that socially conscious smirk off your face. Let's examine your clothes you put on this morning. Your shoes. Your automobile. What you're eating for lunch. The house or building you're working in. The computer you're typing on.

How many of these were build/manufactured with fair labor standards? Do you even know where they were made?

[will chen @ Jun 13th 2006 3:03PM]

"This is sort of like saying that Kurt Cobain, with all his million$, was happier than I am with my $40,000 annual wage. It's our perception of money that makes this look so bad. I may have more opportunities, but that doesn't mean that I'm superior, just because I have more money and (as a matter of perspective) a better environment than these Chinese workers.

If people stop buying iPods, then these people will have to find new jobs. Who ever started this story does not care about those people, they're only starting propaganda to attack Apple."

What...?

[seth brundle @ Jun 13th 2006 3:15PM]

Cheap hard labor is the hisorical cornerstone of every developing economy, including the US and UK.

Exactly how does the author think the US, UK, Japan, S. Korean, and Taiwan got from point A to point B?

Do you think a Japanese farmer one day walked out of a rice field with a Walkman in his hand and the rest was history?

To be perfectly clear: these jobs are far better then the ones these workers previously had, and the influx of capital will build an economic infrastructure and skills for better jobs for them tommorrow.

Although these jobs may seem indentured servitude, it is the precisely exact desired course for the Chinese people and their economy, and the same course most developing nations take.

You dont just wake up from a communist economy with $7/hr jobs for a billion people.

[Pete Avila @ Jun 13th 2006 3:18PM]

Ben shut up!

[John Henry Brown @ Jun 13th 2006 3:18PM]

"so until we find a way to break our gadget addiction, we'll all be complicit in these practices to some degree." I think that sentence is weak. Try ending the sentence with "we are all complicit in these practices." That's present tense, leaving no room for doubt.

Still I'm impressed that you even mention the conditions under which gadgets are produced. That's a big step forward for engadget. I hope to see more posts about this subject in engadget.

[anon @ Jun 13th 2006 3:19PM]

CORRECTION: The article says £54 a month, not $50 a month. That is about $100 a month. Not like that's great, but 2x what is quoted.

[willyjsimmons @ Jun 13th 2006 3:24PM]

I believe the 'problem' with using Chinese labor is that if the conditions were if fact 'bad', would said worker be willing and able to say as much to his supervisors?

No. Out of fear for losing the job, said worker might be willing to endure all types of mistreatment.

Given that the Chinese government still takes people out back to be 'whacked', the 'moral' thing to do would be economic isolation.

But alas.....the U.S. depends on China to purchase our 'almost junk' bonds in order for us to maintain running our massive deficit.

But ya'll don't hear me though.

[BSTalker @ Jun 13th 2006 3:42PM]

Wow look at all that profit... you have to love capitalism.

This advertisement was paid for by the Bush Administration.

Remember kids... nothing lasts ;)

[Kevin @ Jun 13th 2006 3:43PM]

So when do we get the article about the terrible work conditions for those making Sony TVs, or Samsung flat panels, or Creative DAPs, or Seagate hard drives, or socks or umbrellas or books or LG DVD-ROMs or.... Or pretty much anything made in any Chinese factory? The only reason this story was even printed is because Apple's on top and the guy on top is always an easy target.

[Will @ Jun 13th 2006 3:46PM]

Ok, so we all agree that working conditions in China are terrible, and that China is a growing threat.

So what are we going to do about it? If you don't like that an Ipod is made in China don't buy it. If enough people stopped buying Chinese made goods, then guess what? Appple and everyone else would find another country to manufacture in.

So you got it? Do your best to not buy anything made in China.

[Todd @ Jun 13th 2006 3:46PM]

Alex,

Almost all of the items you mentioned are indeed made in China, in whole or in part. The important difference is that the manufactures of said items DO NOT run advertisements featuring Gandhi. They DO NOT publicly cry out for the world to recognize human suffering with red colored iPod navigation wheels.

I find it the height of hypocrisy for Apple to market their products under the "think globally, act locally" vibe, then employ slave labor to build their products in solely for greed.

http://image.com.com/mp3/images/story/u2ipod_2139.jpg

[Pinkerton @ Jun 13th 2006 3:58PM]

Alex,
You are correct in pointing out the prevalence
of Chinese goods. I have tried to avoid them. Gave up recently when I found that I can no longer buy a pair of US made hiking boots for under $150 (BTW, Wolverine boots are now made in China, yet still cost over $100).

More on topic: These working conditions are better
than, say, a U.S. mining or lumber company in the 1880s, but the economic model is the same. The worker lives and breathes for the company, but the bulk of the profit benefits the very rich. The richest 1% of the U.S. population own 40% of all stocks & bonds. They could give 2 shits about labor conditions in China or the eroding manufacturing base in the U.S.

How this is remedied in a civilized, free market economy is beyond me, especially considering the current state of American politics, Democrat and Republican alike.

[Wes @ Jun 13th 2006 4:05PM]

hmmm...I think I want to go buy a new Ipod, and a 3rd nipple if anyone knows where I can get one of those

[Robotron @ Jun 13th 2006 4:06PM]

While this is the norm for most products today (just check your local China-Mart .....ooops Wal Mart) I'm a little disappointed to see Apple doing it since they always claim to take the higher road.

The major problem is that none of us are really living in the real world. What we "are" paying for items and what we "should be" paying are vastly different.

Once China is done with us (and that day will come) our "Wal Mart" economy will be pulled out from under our feet and we will be forced to wake up.

[masquerade @ Jun 13th 2006 4:08PM]

"WWBD (What Would Bono Do?)"

He would license U2 to be put on special IPods, that's what!: http://www.apple.com/ipod/u2/

[tekdemon @ Jun 13th 2006 4:25PM]

This is just plain silly, it's not nearly as bad as it sounds. For one thing the $50 is almost pure spending money for things you don't really need. The factory supplies your shelter (dorms) and your food (you get all your meals at the cafeteria), etc. Add in the fact that $50 goes a LOT farther in China than it does in the USA, and it's not really a bad life at all. Plenty of Chinese people would love to get one of those jobs, have you ever seen what the poor countryside villages look like in China?!?

There's over 1 billion people there, it's a little bit absurd to expect 1 billion cushy desk jobs just like the one you have, where's the money going to come from, Mars? Idiots.

Indentured servitude my ass, by that logic you're an indentured servent too because you have to work. Keep in mind that the English are used to less work hours than American workers, so to them I guess a 15 hour day is like getting whipped or something. Over in England they have a stereotype of Americans as workaholics.

Finally the Daily Mail is not exactly the most reputable tabloid in the world (tabloid is what they call all tablet-form newspapers in England, I know most Americans think of tabloids as like the National Enquirer), so I wouldn't put too much faith in that.

Seriously, I read the article at Anandtech when they visited ECS' factories in China and showed the dorms and cafeteria meals and it's not bad (ECS makes most of the motherboards for prebuilt PCs out there).

Let's do some math shall we, as to exactly how much more worse off this Chinese worker is versus say, a McDonald's worker who's making minimum wage in NYC.

MickeyD's worker makes: $206/week or $824 a month.
Chinese ipod worker supposedly makes: $12.50/week or $50 a month.

MickeyD's worker's rent for month, like one room in a mediocre neighborhood: $500
Chinese ipod worker's rent: $0

MickeyD's worker's food costs: $150/month (and I think I'm lowballing this but I guess they get free mickeyD's food)
Chinese ipod worker's food costs: $0

OK so at the end of the month, yes the MickeyD's worker amazingly still has more money, about triple what the Chinese worker has.

Except uhh, $170 doesn't get you anywhere in NYC, while I'd bet that $50 would get you plenty of nights relaxing in China. Last time I checked $10USD would get you a very nice restaurant meal in China (no not in the richest section of Beijing, I mean the rest of China).

Seriously, unless you understand the culture over there it's fairly moronic make insane claims like the Daily Mail is.

[Cesar @ Jun 13th 2006 4:30PM]

hmmm this could've been serious stuff before but now it's not that big of a deal. think about it, almost everything we have, use, and eat.. comes from china... so it's pretty logical that they would been doing this for a long time now.. not just apple but every company that is located overseas..

[d3 @ Jun 13th 2006 4:31PM]

According to the photo, iPods are woven from white thread.

[John-Boy @ Jun 13th 2006 4:36PM]

Hey, they want the work. Face facts; there are poor people in the world. I didn't cause them to be poor, the folks that buy iPods and the folks that designed, market and sell iPods make the workers lives better.

[Lisha @ Jun 13th 2006 4:39PM]

It's tragic, but it's like this everywhere, in more developing nations than we'll ever hear about on the news, and hell, it's almost this bad even here. How many of you have ever worked in the restaurant biz with immigrants? Or retail -- or even worse, retail management? When you're being paid less than minimum wage once the salary is broken down to fit all the hours you spend there, when you can't pay any of the bills on your own, despite living frugally. Just because we're "free" (ha) to quit and "find something better" (haha!) doesn't mean that our reality is that much better. The article indicates that for those who are not housed in dorms, living costs and rent eat up "about half" their salaries (that $100 a month or so). That's BETTER than I had it personally, in the United States, some few years ago while working a salaried job for a respected national corporation while living in a small city in a very small studio apartment. Perspective. People here suffer as well.

Yes. Overall, the quality of life for a lower tier worker in the US is better than that in China. I'm not trying to directly compare. But there are plenty of people suffering in this country at a minimum wage that doesn't cover the minimum anything. But things are bad all over, people. You could write a story a day like this -- and this one's already been called into question. It bothers me that so many people, in this new era of journalism, will still swallow and follow anything any "newspaper" will print without a second thought, and I laud the Engadget writers for also printing the fact that there are doubts shed on this piece. There are plenty of companies that are proven worse than Apple for their conditions in overseas factories. While I can accept the inherent hypocrisy in Apple's campaign while they have any manufacturing in China -- because it is hypocrisy and welcome to big business, people -- they're hardly the devil for it.

It's very easy for us to sit here, in comfortably air conditioned offices or homes, on expensive machinery, to pass judgment on what is good or bad for working class people in China, but there are very few among us who can even imagine what is good or bad about their lives. We have no frame of reference. These jobs may be good for Chinese people. They may be secure and comfortable, to their standards, and living quarters there may allow them to send money home to families who desperately need it. WE DON'T KNOW. Unless we line up every factory in China, taking a representative worker from each, and people from other developing nations in comparable jobs, and talk to them all, without comparing to our own lifestyles (which is impossible), there's really no way of knowing.

To us, it seems tragic -- and it is. But to them, it could be a ray of hope. Sure, it could be brighter and they could be paid more. I'd even pay more for my iPods to ensure it. Would you?

Try to have some perspective. There are a lot of terrible things in the world. It's hard for those of us who live privileged lives (wow, I never say that about myself, but in this context, it suits) to even begin to understand the nuances of a life in China. Don't let one article dictate your opinion.

[john @ Jun 13th 2006 4:45PM]

It's actually worse than you think.

There was a very interesting documentary on the Discovery Time channel that went into the growth of China and spent some time on looking into these large factories. There are no labor laws, there are shocking injuries occurring to people (hands/arms crushed) and because the new industrial revolution in China is making the farm lands even more poor there are endless people who will work in these factories.

They move to the city, lie about he credentials and then get these jobs. When something happens to them the factories just kick them out and they are now broke, disabled and destroyed.

I understand the need for a company to maximize it’s profits, but with the huge margins Apple is making on these things, some social responsibility should be applied. Either that or Apple and all their fanboi’s need to get off their high horse.

[p @ Jun 13th 2006 4:49PM]

China...a two hour massage is 40RMB (Yuan) or the equivalent of $5 US.
Most street fast food is roughly 5-10RMB or 50¢ to $1.50

What the report also forgets to say is that the average factory worker gets 3 weeks vacation every 10 weeks of work. They work Monday-Saturday 6 days a week for 12 hr shifts (that's normal.) every 10 weeks, they get 3 weeks off.

Food is free at the factory cafeteria. Health care is handled by a company doctor. Public transportation is the norm and most people ride bikes so most don't pay for gas.

Kinda evens out in a weird kind of way.

[Marshall Kirkpatrick @ Jun 13th 2006 5:00PM]

For what it's worth, many folks presumably came to the cities and took these jobs in the first place because of: destruction of rural economies via industrial food production, destruction of rural ecosystems via development like giant dams, the draw of big city life and its excitement and who knows what other factors good and bad. Just something to think about. Also, who wants to live in a ginormous dorm and eat company food all the time? That's barely tolerable for college kids. I'm sure there's good, bad and worse about this situation - but it's nice to see the bad remembered and the worst alluded to in these discussions.

[dale @ Jun 13th 2006 5:03PM]

it is a dictatorship. and everyones point is?
they beat and kill their population, there is no free press and this is surprising?

[P @ Jun 13th 2006 5:21PM]

it would also help if people here ACTUALLY BOTHER TO TRAVEL to China to see life there. Beat and kill their population? Give me a break.

That's like Chinese people thinking what happened to Rodney King is the NORM for America.

Stop trying to figure out what's going on with second hand accounts and actually TALK or SEEK opinions from people there, okay bub? My relatives still live in China...by choice. Like any country, there are good and bad parts. There's a significant amount of American ex-patriates there too making a living.