Tuesday, June 29, 2010

MacNN | Foxconn moving some Apple production elsewhere in China?:

Foxconn is reportedly preparing to move a portion of its Apple production to north and central China, according to a Financial Times report. The change, which will shift Apple projects away from Shenzhen, is said to be driven by cost considerations as the manufacturer raises wages in its southern facilities.

Unnamed executives familiar with negotiations between both companies allege that Apple had been resistant to helping pay for the higher labor costs following a high number of worker suicides and dissatisfaction with working conditions.

To help avoid the wage hike, Foxconn reportedly proposed a move to production facilities in Tianjin or Henan. One executive was quoted as saying that Apple is "more ready now to use some of the new locations," despite earlier efforts to keep manufacturing centralized in Shenzhen.