The Foxconn iPad Factory that Exploded (NYT Photo)

If it happened a week ago, it’s old news.

A week ago the New York times published a piece raising concerns about factory conditions in China which make Apple products.  In the balancing act that corporations play in pushing out their products and paying expenses to do so–which include the opportunity for suppliers to earn a profit and pay for safety–the story made a strong argument that in Apple’s case, often it’s the workers who are losing. Various substandard and dangerous working conditions exist in the Chinese factories where Apple products are produced. Apple’s customers get to own the beautiful, groundbreaking products, but only at the price of thousands of workers suffering through poor working conditions, more than a hundred injuries and a few deaths.

This story is old news and doesn’t have legs.

Many were outraged a week ago when the story broke. In our hyperconnected, hyperactive world this is no longer news. As of yesterday morning (Feb. 1), here were the Google News results for Apple: In third place was the fallout from the NYT piece. Taking the top place was their involvement in an anticompetition battle with Samsung and in second, a cluster of stories revolving around how amazing Apple is as a company. This morning (Feb. 2), the story has fallen in significance again, to fifth place in Google News. Positive stories are now the top Apple result (“Apple Surpasses LG as World’s 3rd Largest Phone Maker“), as well as in third (“Apple Scores With Digital Textbooks and App“) and fourth place (“Rumor: Apple Could Hold ‘Strange’ Event Ahead of iPad 3 Announcement“).

The idea that “Apple is Awesome” is something that all of us hear, all the time, a sustained narrative in the digital age. A 2010 pew research piece revealed that 40% of the media’s stories on Apple note how their products are “innovative or superior in quality” while an additional 27% reference the company’s loyal fan base. It’s easy to understand why 2/3 of Apple coverage is positive: Everybody loves a dreamer, a risk-taker who ultimately wins, and that’s the story of Apple. Once on the rocks and destined for bankruptcy, their record of commercializing innovations is undeniable. They’ve made a variety of gadgets and software more usable and relevant in our world. This is as true for desktop computers as it is for music players, smartphones, apps and tablets. Turning technological dreams into reality has been highly profitable for Apple, and the “Apple is Awesome” positive news coverage is well-earned in light of the company’s consistently stellar financial results. Consider that Apple is:

• King of Computing. Yesterday it was revealed that not only is Apple setting itself up to dominate the $3.8T IT market with the iPad, but also that the product has helped Apple become the number one personal computing manufacturer in the world, toppling HP.
• King of Smartphones. Besides its tablet and computing hardware businesses, Apple has the number one and number two best-selling smartphones globally, thanks to the iPhone 4S and 4. Analyst expectations were shattered fourth quarter with regard to operating system market share. It was widely expected that Apple would lose significant ground to the leading low-cost Android platform, but a partial look at Q4 shows that Apple had explosive growth in the area, with iOS holding 43% of the smartphone operating system market, while Android has 47%, a 17-point quarterly jump.
  

  The kinds of mobile OS Forecasts happening in early 2011; click for IDC Source.

• King of the Dollar. In 2011 Apple’s profits ($13 billion) exceeded Google’s entire revenue stream ($10.6 billion). By market capitalization, Apple is at times the biggest US company, most recently taking this title January 30 when it had a value of $422B compared against Exxon’s $410B (in case you’re wondering, Apple’s still the King: Yesterday it closed north of $425B while Exxon slipped to $397.5B). The company has added an additional 24% of value since August, when it was then the biggest US company at a valuation of $341.5B. CBS news pointed out that for the week ending Jan. 30, Apple added $30B to its valuation–essentially rising in value to the tune of Dell Computer.

Apple leads in innovation, delivers amazing products to the world, and reaps ample financial reward for doing so. It’s huge, it’s amazingly successful. That’s why a week ago, readers of the NYT piece were shocked to read that:

• “Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records.”
• “Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77. Before those blasts, Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chengdu plant, according to a Chinese group.”
• “’We’ve had this conversation hundreds of times,’ said a former executive in Apple’s supplier responsibility group. ‘There is a genuine, companywide commitment to the code of conduct. But taking it to the next level and creating real change conflicts with secrecy and business goals, and so there’s only so far we can go.’”

Apple’s history of innovation and financial results are worthy of respect; in light of that, their failure to make progress on these issues is worthy of disgust. The NYT story should be a call to arms for those who believe that corporations aren’t just obligated to provide financial results, but environmental and social ones as well, and are responsible for everything which happens in their supply chain. While Corporate Social Responsibility adherents have long been frustrated with Apple–the company certainly has a lack of corporate philanthropy–it’s appalling that it can’t even do the basics and address these persistent issues in the assembly of its products. Apple can easily afford to do better.

To be sure, Apple has systems in place to minimize harm. The NYT piece acknowledges there’s an Apple code of conduct for suppliers which intends to protect workers and increase the safety of their environment. Each year since the installation of that code of conduct in 2005, the number of audited facilities goes up and is now in the hundreds; Apple is unshy about finding violations and documenting them. Apple has fired 15 suppliers, but each year a large chunk of them (until last year, about half) have significant violations.  This issue is persistent but, depending on your perspective, improving; the article points out that last year around 20% of the entire factory workforce who makes Apple products consistently worked six days a week or exceeded 80 hours, but that appears to be a significant decline.

Pessimists will say this doesn’t matter. Apple inspires amazing brand loyalty from its adherents; how they treat workers is of less relevance. A few injuries and accidents here and there won’t stop the world from buying Apple products, particularly when you consider that being a Chinese factory worker is unlikely to ever be a healthy occupation. In the jackpot of healthy work environments, those guys simply drew the short straws. This won’t change, it’s the norm in the electronics industry; there’s little that can be done thanks to competitive forces and the lack of workers rights in China. Apple’s trying to improve and even showing a little success. Why nitpick?

Because customers of a company’s products have power and leverage to make them change for the better. This was what happened with the late 90s Nike sweatshop story. The firm changed, and today is a company that wins ethics awards and which could be a possible case study for Apple in this area. It all depends on the kind of Apple you want as a stakeholder. Here is a company which, against all odds, has managed to change the world and electronics in myriad ways; it could provide its leadership in worker safety as well. But this isn’t the current situation. What happens today is that Apple comes in first in the marketplace as a tech firm, but last as to how they deal with workers’ rights and environmental practices. 

In order for Apple to change, many more voices need to be added to the conversation. The consumer/customer stakeholder of Apple has two ways to make their intentions felt: Either don’t buy Apple products–admittedly hard and unlikely to happen–or raise your voice and don’t let this NYT story become old news. Voice your opinion on this issue to Apple and to the public. Blog, Tweet, do a status update, send e-mails, or best of all sign this online petition for Apple CEO Tim Cook to address this issue.

The Apple factory-worker story is old news only if the public lets it rest. People believing that the world’s most successful companies shouldn’t just provide financial returns but also social and environmental ones should speak up. This story can gain more relevance and longevity if we keep discussing how Apple can do better, perhaps even become a leader in this area. Apple can certainly afford it. To get them there, raise your voice.