Production of iPhones in China: Conditions and Working Environment

An iPhone is made from many metals including aluminium, cobalt, and tin. These metals come from mines in places such as Indonesia and the Congo. The conditions in these mines are extremely inhumane. For example, Indonesia’s Bangka Island is a source for Apple’s tin. In these mines, workers are forced to work in fear of deadly landslides and collapsing pits. In 2012, six workers died in these mines in a single week (Merchant 2017). Also, Apple obtains cobalt from mines in the Congo that force workers to work in very poor conditions: “An estimated 100,000 cobalt miners in Congo use hand tools to dig hundreds of feet underground with little oversight and few safety measures” (Frankel 2016). These workers are only compensated for the materials that they find, typically leading to only two to three dollars each day. Among these workers are an estimated 4,000 children around the ages of 10 or 12 (Frankel 2016). Many of the materials used to make an iPhone come from mines in which workers are forced to work in very poor conditions.

Most of the world’s iPhones are produced in China. About 50% of Apple iPhones are produced in Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, China. The 350,000 workers employed by the Foxconn factory created a small city in this area. Although Foxconn produced other electronics, the large number of iPhones produced has earned Zhengzhou the nickname “iPhone City.” This factory can produce phones very quickly, producing nearly 500,000 iPhones every day. Most of these workers are between the ages of 18 and 25, but interns can age as low as 16 while other workers keep a factory job in order to provide for their families. Salaries at this factory are very low, starting at just $300 per month. In fact, this number is so low that the Chinese government does not take out taxes from these workers payroll. Because this salary is so low, many workers feel obligated to work overtime in hopes of increasing income. Although overtime is limited to 36 hours per month by Chinese law, many workers go over this limit to increase their salary.

The factory works on a two shifts per day system (day shift and night shift) and workers have no choice over which shift they are assigned to. Inside the factory, conditions are not ideal. Nearly every job in the factory could be described as monotonous, leading to most workers leaving after just one or two years. Jobs are assigned, not chosen, and the assembly line jobs are the most dreaded. In assembly line jobs, workers receive very few breaks and are very strongly encouraged to work overtime hours, leading to many 10 to 12 hour days performing the exact same task. This high amount of overtime work leads to health issues amongst assembly line workers. Living conditions in Zhengzhou are also not ideal. Most workers pay $25 per month to live in dorms near the factory. These dorms are known for being unsanitary and overcrowded. Each dorm sleeps around eight people. Because there are two shifts, workers often have trouble sleeping as they have different sleep schedules than their roomates. In their freetime, most workers spend their time playing games on none other than their mobile smart phone (Jacobs 2018). The Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, China does not provide the best conditions for workers producing Apple iPhones.

Workers at the Foxconn factory have taken actions to protest the poor living and working conditions they face. In 2012, over 2000 laborers rioted in the streets of Zhengzhou leaving over 40 people hospitalized. Protests included the smashing of windows in supermarkets, arcades, and parked cars. Security workers were forced to walk around Foxconn campus with riot helmets and shields in order to end the protests (Bloomberg News 2012). Other workers take a different approach in hopes of achieving better conditions for workers in the future. Workers from the Foxconn factory have a high suicide rate. In 2010, 12 workers committed suicide by jumping off rooftops. This has led to nets being installed around the factory’s campus in hopes of preventing similar incidents. The conditions in the factory are clearly the motivation for these workers’ acts. Some workers even leave notes blaming the exhausting work for their decision (Chmielewski 2015). Conditions in the Foxconn factory have lead to protests from many workers.

The cost of producing an iPhone does not represent the true social and environmental costs of its production. New iPhones have a retail price of over $1200 dollars in today’s stores. However, it only costs Apple a total of $443 to produce each phone (Smith 2017). Social costs include the poor conditions used to produce the phone. iPhone users must accept that they are using a phone containing materials mined by children and other workers with no safety equipment. Also, factory workers that produce iPhones face such poor conditions that they are commiting suicide. These social costs should create a burden on Apple as a company along with iPhone consumers. Environmental costs are very high for producing an iPhone. Many of the materials Apple uses produce a lot of pollution. For example, aluminium smelting is very harmful for the environment. However, Apple does deserve some credit for attempting to find cleaner ways to get aluminium (Meyer 2018). Although Apple is attempting to limit the burden producing an iPhone puts on society, the production of an iPhone continues to create many social and environmental costs likely not seen by consumers.