Foxconn's $12 Billion Plan for Brazilian iPad Production in Trouble

Unfortunately i don't think the US workers would like the same treatment the china workers get. Im sure there is a reason they committed suicide, and i don't think its high wages and a lovely working life that did it. See Mike Daisey's show, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs

Just to reiterate a point that has already been made a lot of times over the past couple of years: the workers at Foxconn committed suicide at a rate significantly lower than that of the general population in China. And those suicide rates are the official Chinese ones, which if anything would probably be understated with regard to suicide in the general populace, because they certainly do not want to look bad.

(Unfortunately, we do not have numbers for China broken down by age. So it may well be that Foxconn's suicides *were* out of the ordinary, for people of that age. However, since we don't know, it seems somewhat irresponsible to assume that that is the case.)

If a company in the US had, say, 50,000 employees, and those employees committed suicide at 2/3 the rate that other people in the US commit suicide, would we hold a Spanish inquisition?

This is not to say that Foxconn is a great place to work, or that there aren't real problems. All I'm saying is, using this as evidence that there are real problems is either slightly ignorant or extremely disingenuous.

For those who want the ipad produced in US: Lets face it, the ipad is a hand built electronic product. It is not designed for automated assembly. Go look at the teardowns. Its one reason it is so well made, I am afraid to say. No American could handle the workplace necessary to assemble it. Unless you were willing to double the price.
Good, Fast, Cheap -- Pick two.

$900 for a baseline iPad? Wow that's freaking expensive

You're damn right. I am Brazillian, and I'm sick with the tax policy applied here. This week a chinese car manufacurer dropped all plans to build a factory here because our "magnific" politics raised the tax over cars. 13,000 jobs trown away! I just can't get it in my mind!

Dear Foxconn,

Canada is also very close to the USA.

Signed,
skilled workers.

But producing in Canada won't solve Apple's problem, which is high import taxes when importing products to Brazil. Producing in Canada would probably also triple the unit production cost because wages are way higher in Canada compared to Brazil...

Dear Foxconn,

Canada is also very close to the USA.

Signed,
skilled workers.

$900 for a baseline iPad? Wow that's freaking expensive

Dear Foxconn,

Canada is also very close to the USA.

Signed,
skilled workers.

I think the point is to produce for the Brazilian internal market, not the US market. And I think wages in Canada are probably higher than in the states right now anyway - stronger Canadian Dollar (and economy) not helping much there.

Haha, I can beat that price. In Zambia, it costs 7,000,000 kwacha. About $1,800

I say make them in the US and smuggle them into Brazil at a profit. It's better than guns or drugs.

lol, they smuggle guns and drugs, we smuggle Apple products!

I say make them in the US and smuggle them into Brazil at a profit. It's better than guns or drugs.