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Translation: The suicides at Foxconn are right in line with suicide rates in the general Chinese population, but because Foxconn is a corporation, and we all know corporations are the spawn of Satan, there must be something sinister at work.

9 suicides amongst 800,000 employees! The annual rate amongst males here in Canada is 18 per 100,000. So no, given the huge number of people working for Foxconn it is not out of the ordinary.

To be fair, the general suicide rate includes the unemployed. I would suspect that loss of income is a pretty big motivator for suicide. Foxconn employees shouldn't have that issue, obviously.

I'm not saying this means that Foxconn suicides aren't caused by personal or family issues, but I do think we should adjust the national rate to not include suicides due to job loss before making a comparison.

I just read it in a Chinese media that out of the $500 selling price of the iPad, Foxconn gets a total of $12 for assembling it. I know I know if Foxconn raise the price of assembling then Apple could go somewhere else. So please, please remember how fortunate we are here to have the "unbelievable low priced" iPad at our disposal.

forrestsun, on 26 May 2010 - 03:50 PM, said:

Conditions in some Chinese factories can be pretty horrific when compared to some U.S. factories, but let's remember, no one is forcing anyone to work in one. Also, without knowing how long it takes to assemble an iPad, we don't know if $12 is good or bad. With all the automation, it may take 5 minutes to assemble. $144 per hour isn't bad by anyones standards.

Suicide rates are high in the US, since our economy is in the toilet with unemployment skyrocketing. I was out of work for 8 months last year. They just don't report them on the news here in the US. China is a different country with a vastly different culture of life. On the other hand, their economy is far better than the US right now.

[/quote]
Conditions in some Chinese factories can be pretty horrific when compared to some U.S. factories, but let's remember, no one is forcing anyone to work in one. Also, without knowing how long it takes to assemble an iPad, we don't know if $12 is good or bad. With all the automation, it may take 5 minutes to assemble. $144 per hour isn't bad by anyones standards.
[/quote]

These jobs are probably "good" jobs for the residents in the the area. People need to work, so, lets' not be naive.

"On the other hand, their economy is far better than the US right now."
In no way, shape, or form is this true.

And although your many speculations about whether the working conditions in foxconn plants are good or bad are amusing, none of you actually seem to have any informations on the matter. Allow me to provide you with some.

http://www.engadget....ing-conditions/

hillstones, on 26 May 2010 - 10:52 PM, said:

Firstly, unemployment did skyrocket when this whole thing began in 2008, but has more or less leveled off in the last few months. Second, I found it difficult to find concise information about U.S. suicide rates being "high" in general– care to point me in the right direction? I did come across several articles about the high rates of suicide by veterans but I'm guessing that the economy was not the primary reason for those.

As far as the topic at hand, suicides by some Foxconn employees may not be directly related to their employment, but in the case of at least one (the person that lost the iPhone), it apparently was. I believe Apple is justified in taking a closer look.

This is a board for tech matters, not politics, but we too are members of society, and we should not put our heads in the sand. I'm making every effort to be non-political about this, so please bear with me. I'm among Apple's most severe customer-critic's, but this is a human problem. As far as Apple is concerned it's sadly ironic that Steve Jobs has become "The Man". He's not the only one, however, not by a long shot!

Foxconn is absolutely not alone in this problem. Most goods sold in the US today have very significant Chinese involvement. Does anyone question the overall US market's contribution to the overall Chinese suicide rate? How much has it contributed to the standard of living? When merchants such as Walmart (and they are not alone) dig into their supplier's supply chain and demand, yes demand, that the supplier's production move to China, so they can sell cosmetic jewelry 10% cheaper, by reducing cost by 100%, can lead to abuses on the other side.

I, for one, believe Apple is at least transiently sincere in their statement. I really don't think that the US companies favor sweatshops, rather it's a side effect of competition.