Apple Profits and Humanity Losses
During the last quarter of 2011, Apple generated sales of $46.3 billion. 37 millions of iPhone were sold during that period.
From a New York Times article, we learn how Apple was able to build its devices:
Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone's screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.
A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company's dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.
In a related news, the President of United States want to get manufacturing jobs back in the USA:
No, we will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt, and phony financial profits. Tonight, I want to speak about how we move forward, and lay out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last — an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values.
Apple is far from being the only one to profit from outsourcing its production but with its stunning profits, it is emblematic of the failure of capitalism to balance profit with humanity bien-être.
Apple success is well deserved, they have an outstanding line of products and I own many of them. I bought an iPhone 4S during this quarter and it is the best phone (and pocket camera) I ever had. However, I can not accept that someone is woken up in the middle of a night, given a biscuit and a cup of tea and has to work 12-hour to build a device I use sitting in my couch.
We would live in a better world if the companies profits (from Apple and all the others) could be used to create new jobs or at least provide decent working conditions when they outsource their production.