foxconn

SNL skit skewers complaints about the iPhone 5

"Saturday Night Live" offered its satirical take on various complaints about Apple's new iPhone 5 in a skit that skewered the tech press and featured a confrontation with SNL's version of Chinese factory workers who make the iPhone.

Guest SNL host Christina Applegate as "Tech Talk" host Caitlin Owens started the skit interviewing reporters from CNET (SNL's Bill Hader playing "Josh Savage" in a nod to our own intrepid Apple reporter, Josh Lowensohn), Wired, and Gizmodo about a "plethora of glitches and design flaws."

The three "reporters" … Read more

Foxconn accused of mistreating severely injured worker

While fixing a spotlight high up on the wall of a Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China, Zhang Tingzhen was hit with a massive electric shock. According to Reuters, he fell 12 feet and suffered severe brain damage. Zhang, 26, has since undergone five operations and is still unable to leave the hospital.

Foxconn, however, is saying its time for him to go.

"Foxconn must bear responsibilities for the injuries," Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior project officer Debby Chan told CNET. "If there are adequate personal protective equipment and measures on the shop floor...the accident could … Read more

How its aluminum housing may be causing iPhone 5 shortages

Cuts, scrapes, and scratches are part of what seems to be slowing Apple's iPhone 5 supply.

According to Bloomberg, the smartphone's delicate aluminum housing, coupled with increasingly stricter quality control, has slowed production and added to the device's supply shortfall.

When Apple launched the iPhone 5 last month, fanatics flocked to stores and Web sites to get the device -- but many were met with "sold out" and "check back soon" notices. Early reports said one of the reasons for the shortage of phones was the device's new LG Display technology.

Now … Read more

Foxconn confirms dispute between workers at China factory

Foxconn, a principal maker of Apple's iPhone 5, has confirmed that two disputes between employees occurred at one of its factories in China earlier this month.

Foxconn, which is the world's largest component maker, said the disputes occurred between factory line workers and quality assurance personnel on October 1-2 at its Zhengzhou plant and that it has taken steps to address the disputes, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

"There has been no workplace stoppage in that facility or any other Foxconn facility and production has continued on schedule," The Taiwan-based company said in a … Read more

Foxconn denies report of strike at Zhengzhou iPhone factory

Last updated: 7:50 a.m. PT

Foxconn is denying that an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 workers at one of its factories in Zhengzhou, China, went on strike yesterday, as reported by China Labor Watch, a nonprofit advocacy group based in New York. In an e-mail statement sent to CNET, a Foxconn Technology Group representative wrote:

We can confirm that there were two disputes between a small group of production line workers and Quality Assurance (QA) personnel at our manufacturing facility in Zhengzhou, China on October 1 and 2 but these were isolated incidents and were … Read more

Foxconn workers reportedly strike over iPhone quality demands

Approximately 3,000 to 4,000 workers at one of Foxconn's factories in Zhengzhou, in China's Henan province, reportedly went on strike earlier today over what a watchdog group says were onerous demands on quality in producing Apple's iPhone 5.

In a news release, China Labor Watch says the workers, who mainly do quality control for the factory's production line, were asked by the company to improve the quality of their work to the point where production deadlines could no longer be met:

According to workers, multiple iPhone 5 production lines from various factory buildings were … Read more

iPad Mini already in production in Brazil, says report

A smaller version of Apple's iPad is already in production according to a new report.

Citing an anonymous source, Japanese Apple blog Macotakara today says that production of the product is under way in a "Brazilian factory."

No other details on parts of physical form factor or offered, short of that the same source says the unit is missing a microphone on its backside, a rumored design cue currently found in Apple's iPhone 5.

Apple has been rumored to be splitting up production of a smaller iPad between two manufacturers, Foxconn and Pegatron. Foxconn began assembling … Read more

iPhone 5 honeymoon over already?

After just a week on the market, the iPhone 5 has owners writing up a laundry list of faults with the new device.

Soon after the iPhone 5 went on sale last Friday, users started filling up discussion forums and social networks with reports of scratches and nicks on their brand-new phones. People say they've noticed the defects around the aluminum band surrounding the phone, with the issue more visible on the black version of the new iPhone.

Those complaints don't appear to bother Apple. "Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural … Read more

Foxconn guards loom over Taiyuan workers, report says

The 79,000 workers at Foxconn's Taiyuan production facility are under the supervision of heavily protected guards, according to a new report.

Security guards working at the facility in the Shanxi province in northern China are wearing riot helmets and holding plastic shields as they march around the plant, Bloomberg is reporting. The workers, meanwhile, are cranking out products.

"The guards here use gangster style to manage," Fang Zhongyang, a Foxconn employee, told Bloomberg in an interview. "We are not against following rules but you have to tell us why. They won't explain things and … Read more