Foxconn, the electronics manufacturing company with factories in China, produces the iPhone 5. In past weeks there has been word that factory workers have been under a lot of pressure to meet the demand of building the iPhone 5.
Today, up to 4,000 Foxconn workers are on strike according to China Labor Watch. The strike occurred after a fight broke out when stricter quality standards were imposed on production of the iPhone 5.
China Labor Watch also notes “it was reported that factory management and Apple, despite design defects, raised strict quality demands on workers, including indentations standards of 0.02mm and demands related to scratches on frames and back covers.”
Additionally, it’s reported that “Foxconn raised overly strict demands on product quality without providing worker training for the corresponding skills. This led to workers turning out products that did not meet standards and ultimately put a tremendous amount of pressure on workers.”
From this we gather that workers were not properly trained on building the iPhone 5 and this has resulted in scratches appearing on new phones.
We hope that the labor dispute is settled and that Foxconn is able to find additional workers to relieve the pressure created by demand for the iPhone 5. In addition, it looks like more training is needed to prevent scuffs from appearing on new phones.