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Foxconn

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Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
Company typePublic
TWSE: 2317
(SEHK: 2038)
IndustryElectronics
Founded1974
Headquarters
Tucheng, Taipei County
,
Taiwan
Area served
Global
Key people
Terry Gou (Chairman/President)
ProductsVarious
RevenueIncrease$61.8 billion USD (2009 [1])
Increase$1.5 billion USD (2005)
Increase$1.74 billion USD (2009 [1])
Number of employees
485,999 (2009 [1])
WebsiteFoxconn Technology Group

The Foxconn Technology Group (traditional Chinese: 富士康科技集團; simplified Chinese: 富士康科技集团) is a multinational business group anchored by the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 鴻海精密工業股份有限公司; LSE: HHPD), a Taiwanese registered corporation headquartered in Tucheng, Taiwan. Foxconn is the largest manufacturer of electronics and computer components worldwide and mainly manufactures on contract to other companies. Among other things, Foxconn produces the Mac mini, the iPod, the iPad, and the iPhone for Apple Inc.; Intel-branded motherboards for Intel Corp.; various orders for American computer manufacturers Dell and Hewlett-Packard; motherboards for UK computer manufacturer Zoostorm; the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 for Sony; the Wii for Nintendo; the Xbox 360 for Microsoft, cell phones for Motorola, the Amazon Kindle, and Cisco equipment.[2][3][4][5]

Hon Hai was founded in 1974 as a manufacturer of plastic products (notably connectors) by Terry Gou, who remains as its CEO. It has been listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange since 1991.

The company opened its first manufacturing in Shenzhen, China in 1988, which is now the company's largest plant, with more than 330,000 employees.[3] Beginning in 1994, Foxconn purchased development centres in the United States and Japan. In 1997 and 1998, Foxconn established additional manufacturing plants in the United Kingdom and the United States. As of 2007, the company and its subsidiaries owned plants in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Brazil, India, and Vietnam.[3]

Recently, the company has come under public scrutiny due to allegations of employee mistreatment. Twelve employees jumped from company buildings in suicide attempts during a five month period in 2010; only two survived in critical condition.[6][7][8]

Criticism

Employment practices

In June 2006, allegations of Foxconn operating abusive employment practices came to light as reported by Mail that were later denied by Foxconn.[9][10] Apple launched an investigation into these claims.[11] The result was that the claims of mistreatment of employees were judged by the Apple inspection team to be largely unfounded, but the inspection team also discovered that at peak production times some of the employees were working more hours than Apple's acceptable "Code of Conduct" limit of 60 hours and 25% of the time workers did not get at least one day off each week.[12] These same workers complained there were not enough overtime work during off peak periods. The auditing team also discovered that workers had been punished by being made to stand at attention for extended periods,[13] and junior employees were subjected to military-style drills.[14]

Foxconn admitted that it makes workers do an extra 80 hours overtime per month while the local labor law only permits 36 hours[15] Foxconn sued Wang You and Weng Bao of China Business News, the journalists responsible for revealing these practices, for $3.77 million and filed a successful court ruling to have the journalists' assets frozen.[16] Some disagree with the demands and the court ruling.[17] Reporters Without Borders sent a letter to Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs to implore Foxconn to drop the case.[18] Later Foxconn reduced the demand to a symbolic 1 yuan (12 U.S. cents), withdrew the request to freeze the journalists' personal assets and initiated legal proceedings to sue their employer.[citation needed]

In a conversation between a Reuters journalist who had visited the Foxconn factory and a BBC interviewer broadcast on 27th May 2010[19], the Reuters journalist commented that "many workers told us that throughout their shift...they are not allowed to speak at all, so there is absolutely no conversation at all between workers during their shift".

ACPI functionality with Linux

On July 25, 2008, a user of Ubuntu Linux claimed that the BIOS in the G33M and G33M-S motherboards from Foxconn contained references to Linux in its ACPI DSDT and interpreted this as an attempt to change behaviour under the Linux kernel.[20] Further investigation showed that the only Linux-specific code in the BIOS had not been run since Linux version 2.6.9.[21]

Foxconn customer support initially claimed that "the motherboard only supported Windows Vista".[22][unreliable source?] This caused a wave of protest, resulting in Foxconn releasing an updated BIOS to improve Linux compatibility.[23][24] Foxconn has also said that it plans to repair all other Foxconn-branded motherboards, and to test Linux alongside Windows in the future.[25]

Investigation revealed the issue was caused by the American Megatrends BIOS assuming that the operating system would clear the ACPI WAK_STS flag on resume, causing the BIOS to interpret a reboot as an attempted resume from memory.[26] The same issue was present in motherboards from other manufacturers using the same BIOS. A short patch to the Linux kernel to work around this issue was submitted upstream.[26]

Case of Sun Danyong's death

On July 16, 2009, employee Sun Danyong allegedly committed suicide in Shenzhen, China by jumping off the 12th floor of his apartment building. [27] Initial reports from China indicate that he was under a lot of pressure because of investigations by Foxconn's Environmental, Safety and Loss Prevention Division regarding a missing prototype for a fourth generation iPhone. He was tasked with shipping 16 iPhone prototype units. However, one of the units went missing.

After filing his report on July 13, Chinese state-run Southern Metropolis Daily reported that his residence was searched by Foxconn employees and that he was beaten and interrogated by his superiors.[28] Sina Online News and ND Daily Newspaper both reported Foxconn's security division may have illegally searched his personal residence without a warrant, used unlawful confinement and possible physical force during the investigation.[29][30] The controversial incident placed questions regarding Apple's secrecy over upcoming releases of its products, where misplacing prototypes serve as a serious breach of protocol.

Foxconn has released an official statement apologizing to Sun Danyong's family. The manager in question was suspended and an official police investigation has begun.[31] An Apple spokesman told reporters that the company was "saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee."[28]

Employee suicides and deaths

Name Gender Age Date of death Decription
Ms Hou (姓侯) Female 19 18 June 2007 Hanged herself in bathroom of company's building, her father claims that there's something wrong with his
daughter's body after reviewing it but it was confirmed by investigative officials as a suicide.[32][33]
Liu Bing (刘兵) Male 21 1 Sept 2007 Sudden death just two hours after being discharged from work, his mother complained to Foxconn that
her son didn't have any history of strong illness but was denied entrance to company's building[34]
Mr Li (姓李) Male 28 16 March 2008 An employee of Foxconn based in Yantai, collapsed in his rental home. His friends suggested
that he was overwork and had symptoms of headache and constant vomits before his death.[35]
Sun Danyong (孙丹勇) Male 25 16 July 2009 Committed suicide in Shenzhen, China by jumping off the 12th floor of his apartment building.[33]
Zheng Xinsong (郑鑫崧) Male 23 20 Aug 2009 Mysteriously drowned in company building's pool but was an able swimmer[36]

Between Jan 2010 to May 2010, twelve Foxconn employees attempted suicide, with ten deaths[37]. Some reporters criticized long working hours with low pay and harsh management methods such as physical abuse towards mainland employees from Taiwanese managers. Some workers have complained about the monotonous work schedule and inhumane working relationships (such as one employee who had worked for half a year and yet did not know the names of his dormitory mates). [38]

As CEO of Hong Hai Precision Industry, Terry Gou responded to the situation on May 25 2010. Because of a huge number of employees, management is difficult, he claimed, but they will improve the situation soon. Now Foxconn has formed specialized "employee care centers" and hired psychologists to offer counseling. However such a measure is doubted by the public.[39] In addition it has been announced that employees will be asked to sign pledges that state they will not commit suicide and seek help if necessary.[40] Some suggest that Foxconn should change its management systems, philosophy, and methods to create a more human orientated business atmosphere.[41]

Assault on foreign reporters at a Chinese factory

On February 17, 2010, Reuters released a news story on Apple and its suppliers' practice of secrecy. In the article, it includes an account of Foxconn security guards confronting Reuters reporters taking photos of an alleged factory producing parts for Apple products, while standing on a public road.[42]

After the reporter boarded a taxi, a security personnel stopped the vehicle and confronted him. As workers watched, two security guards tried to drag him into the factory. When the reporter struggled free, a guard kicked the reporter while another guard threatened to hit him if he moved. The reporter called police after a Foxconn security vehicle drove by and the security guards attempted to coerce him into the car. Police arrived later and was able to mediate the two parties with the security guards apologizing to the reporter. While offering an option to the reporter to file a police report, the police officer informed him that he is free to choose whichever option but he must note that Foxconn receives special status locally.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Fortune Global 500 2009: The World's Biggest Companies - Hon Hai Precision Industry", Fortune, 2009
  2. ^ "Inside Apple's iPod Factories", MacWorld website, June 12, 2006
  3. ^ a b c The Forbidden City of Terry Gou, The Wall Street Journal, 11 August 2007
  4. ^ "Front Company and OEM for Amazon Kindle is...", CrunchGear, 19 November 2007
  5. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120600736.html Cisco does not directly manufacture its products. Instead, it hires companies like Foxconn
  6. ^ 深圳富士康再有員工墮樓 是今年第12宗
  7. ^ 富士康26日晚發生今年第12起員工墜樓事件
  8. ^ Another Foxconn suicide after boss apologizes
  9. ^ "iPod City: inside Apple's iPod factories" AppleInsider, 12 June, 2006
  10. ^ "Foxconn: iPod sweatshop claims a 'vicious attack'", AppleInsider, June 19, 2006
  11. ^ "Apple begins audit on iPod sweatshop claims", AppleInsider, June 20, 2006
  12. ^ Apple Clears iPod Factory
  13. ^ Apple's audit report
  14. ^ Photos: inside Foxconn's "iPod City"
  15. ^ iPod Worker Exploiter Second Largest IT Company In World
  16. ^ "Foxconn sues Chinese journalists over iPod factory story" ilounge, 2006
  17. ^ Shenzhen court ruling on Foxconn case "absurd" Xinhua, 2006
  18. ^ Apple Computer urged to intercede for two reporters who exposed bad conditions at supplier’s plants, Reporters Without Borders
  19. ^ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10169595.stm Taiwan iPhone-maker Foxconn suffers another death
  20. ^ "Foxconn deliberately sabotaging BIOS to destroy Linux ACPI support" Ubuntu Forums, 24 July, 2008
  21. ^ Further Foxconn Fun
  22. ^ "A possible bug in Foxconn boards BIOS affects Linux ACPI". Hardware & Laptops. ubuntuforums.org. 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2008-07-27. Contains user-posted private correspondence between a user and Foxconn customer support, quoted in the cited Ubuntu Forums page.
  23. ^ "MoBo Manufacturer Foxconn Refuses To Support Linux".
  24. ^ "Foxconn releases updated BIOS for G33 motherboards".
  25. ^ "Updates of resolution od Foxconn bug --- from Foxconn FAE Heart Zhang". Hardware & Laptops. ubuntuforums.org. 2008-08-02. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  26. ^ a b Testing 2.6.27-rc2 with the current released (not development) BIOS on the Foxconn G33M reveals the following:
  27. ^ "Foxconn employee committed suicide over iPhone leak interrogations?" Shanghaiist, 2009
  28. ^ a b "Chinese Worker Commits Suicide Over Missing iPhone Prototype". New York Times. July 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  29. ^ / "25岁员工疑遭高管拘禁殴打后跳楼身亡", Sina News, 2009 (in Chinese)
  30. ^ "疑不堪压力 富士康员工跳楼自杀" NDDaily, 2009 (in Chinese)
  31. ^ "富士康员工丢失iPhone样机被调查 后跳楼自杀" NDDaily, 2009 (in Chinese)
  32. ^ http://finance.baidu.com/2009-07-21/119781584.html
  33. ^ a b http://news.xinmin.cn/rollnews/2010/05/07/4777493.html
  34. ^ http://stock.hexun.com/2009-07-21/119781086.html
  35. ^ http://news.cnfol.com/100126/101,1609,7172824,00.shtml
  36. ^ http://www.voc.com.cn/article/201003/201003131211468238.html
  37. ^ 富士康26日晚發生今年第12起員工墜樓事件
  38. ^ [1][2][3]
  39. ^ "“11 Jumps” in Foxconn till now" EasySEOSolution, 2010
  40. ^ "Chinese Factory asks for 'no suicide' vow". MSNBC. 2010-05-26. Retrieved 2010-5-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  41. ^ "“11 Jumps” in Foxconn till now" EasySEOSolution, 2010
  42. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61G3XA20100217 "For Apple suppliers, loose lips can sink contracts", Reuters, 2009
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