Apple’s CEO
Tim Cook has landed in China in his third visit in 18 months. It is believed
that he has been holding meetings with China’s telecom companies, China
Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile.
Presently,
Apple deals with China Telecom and
which accounts for about 350 million users in China. It is expected that
he will also try to strike a deal with China Mobile which is the largest
telecommunication company in the world.
With a customer
base of about 730 million, China Mobile has more than double of its closest
rivals’ customers combined. It is predicted that getting a deal done could
change Apple’s fortune in a market it is getting more difficult to catch up due
to range of Samsung’s devices.
One of the
things Tim Cook is also expected to address is the issue of violation of China
labour rules by the producer of Apple’s iPhones and iPads, Pegatron and
Foxconn.
The
factories were accused of overusing workers, cramping about 8 to 12 workers in
a single room, overcrowded cafeteria, not providing hot water for workers to
take their bath and even polluting the environment with waste from the
manufacturing plant.
It was
reported that workers in the Pegatron plant has increased from about 50,000 in
March to 70,000 in July as it aims to cope with more production of Apple
iPhones and iPads.
Apple in a
statement, said it is “committed to providing safe and fair working conditions
throughout our supply chain.” Apple claimed it had conducted 15 comprehensive
audits at Pegatron facilities since 2007, including surprise audits within the
past 18 months.
Pegatron
Chief Executive Jason Cheng said: “We will investigate [the allegations] fully
and take immediate actions to correct any violations to Chinese labour laws and
our own code of conduct.”
It is
expected that a complete report about violation of labour union rules by
Apple’s suppliers will be published by next Monday by American based China
Labor Watch. Among the pictures taken, the image of the rumoured iPhone 5C was
also found and this has further consolidated the rumour.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook visits Apple’s second largest market China