Displaying items by tag: Foxconn

Tim Cook’s recent visit to China has made more than a few headlines especially considering their position they are in right now. Not only do they have the world looking at them over issues at with Foxconn facilities, but they are also in a rather ugly legal battle with ProView over who actually owns the trademark name iPad. On the surface Cook’s visit is to discuss growth and expansion in China (which actually only means more money to Foxconn and the Chinese government). However, Cook is also more than likely there to try and squash the upstart ProView and a level higher than the Chinese court system.

In a recent article I published about Apple being nervous over Windows 8 I made the statement that Apple has never released a developer preview like this before and also that Apple does not do public Betas. Both of these statements were read incorrectly and the flood of comments from Apple fans came in. There were lists of the times that Apple has pushed out Developer Previews as well as a list of the times they have released betas to the public. It has been entertaining, but I think we need some clarification on these two items and also why Apple is nervous about Windows 8.

Apple has announced that they are going to have the Fair Labor Association begin inspecting their factories beginning this month. The move comes after public outcry and much bad press over working conditions at the Foxconn factories where Apple’s products are manufactured. The question that begs to be asked now is; why does Apple need to bring in the FLA if they have been monitoring and are aware of the situation at these factories?

There are many things that bother me about the way the media portrays things and how this portrayal develops corporate myths that are then bought into by the consumer market. One of these has always been the superiority of Apple products over the rest of the competition. The myth all started many years ago when Apple manufactured everything they made here in the US pretty much by hand. They were a boutique dealer and could afford to take the extra time and effort to get all of the details right. However, all of that changed when Tim Cook arrived on the scene.