It’s not just Apple that has a lot to thank for China’s abundant supply of low-cost and pliant labor (for more on Apple read yesterday’s story).
Virtually every western manufacturer that has facilities or suppliers in China has been drawn there by one overriding goal– to make things cheaper.
But how much longer can Low Cost China continue to gain height as a business model?
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Business is booming for Foxconn, the controversial hi-tech contract manufacturer that supplies Apple.
It plans to expand its facilities in China by opening a high-tech manufacturing facility in south China’s island province of Hainan. The Taiwanese firm’s existing facilities in China are all on the mainland in cities such as Shenzhen and Chengdu.
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This story will run and run. Allegations of poor working conditions at the Chinese factories that build Apple’s iPads and iPhones have been made on a number of ocasions. But the latest set of acusations, broadcast on US public radio show This American Life in January, have been questioned and the show has retracted the episode, called “Mr Daisey and the Apple Factory”. (continue reading…)
By GEOFF NAIRN
China is a land of opportunity for business, but it is also a land of counterfeiting and intellectual property theft
Few consumers get fooled by street markets selling luxury handbags at knock-down prices. But there are many cases where it is difficult for buyers to distinguish counterfeit goods from the real thing. As more manufacturing shifts to China, businesses in the west need to learn how to value their intellectual property and protect it [...]