[...] création de gadget ce que la Silicon Valley est à la création d’entreprise, estime Sarah Lacy :http://pandodaily.com/2012/01/22/why-china-wins/ Les Chinois ne fabriquent pas des produits de moindre qualités, c’est eux qui fabriquent les [...]

I'm finding the comments to this article more interesting than the article itself! As an owner of a medium-sized factory in China, I can say that there is probably no factory in China that runs 100% according to Chinese labor laws. If there's a way to get around something, they will. Our workers do overtime till 8pm or 9pm, but they do it, because the pay is better during overtime. In fact, if we didn't have overtime, they'll go to a busier factory. Overtime is how workers make a lot of money. Some of our entry-level workers can make as much as my English-speaking Account Reps in a month with overtime. That being said, the bulk of our problems do NOT come from our management of our factory. These workers are from rural parts of China and too young and naive to be on their own. Workers form "gangs", based on their geographical origins, and one gang might harass another. Men and women will get into relationships, like kids in high school, and drama might ensue. The one time we had a suicide attempt was when a male worker tried to kill himself when his girlfriend dumped him for another guy. I can't say that this is what happens at Foxconn, or any other large manufacturer in China. But Foxconn's largest facility in Shenzhen houses 450,000 workers, and I believe they have about 1 million workers total in China. That's larger than many cities. We don't know what kind of dynamics goes on when you put so many people together in one place like that. And despite the bad press about Foxconn's strict worker rules, I'm sure there are still MORE workers clamoring for jobs there. We cannot, as "Westerners" of non-communist countries, judge what is right or wrong in a country, which is at a different level of socio-economic development than our home countries. China still has a ways to go, in terms of proper governance of workers' rights. In order for that to change, China will have to become more transparent and less corrupt. And I don't see this happening any time soon.

This is great. The sweatshop game. http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/26/sweatshop-game-apple-factory-labor/

[...] New York Times erzählte am vergangenen Wochenende in ihrem exzellenten Artikel “How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work” anekdotisch die Geschichte dieses [...]

[...] Why China Wins (pandodaily.com) [...]

[...] New York Times erzählte am vergangenen Wochenende in ihrem exzellenten Artikel “How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work” anekdotisch die Geschichte dieses [...]

While China is doing well for consumer electronics, their factory performances are not the same for all high technology industries. The company where I work (>100k employees) has 37 manufacturing facilities world wide. We have 1/3 of our total staff in China and recently opened our first Chinese R&D engineering group. We have our own corporate factories as contracting out has consistently led to IP loss and what is well known to those transferring manufacturing to China in particular, quality creep. (In fairness to the the contract factories, they have tight margins and are driven to keep them at the same level.) The cost for Chinese manufacturing has risen and is not particularly competitive; they are catching up with Eastern Europe (Romania, Poland, Cz, etc.) We are also busy moving more of our manufacturing production to the interior of Mexico, away from the traditional border corridors. Sarah, I love the site and no disrespect intended but the bay area has so much more than just software and consumer electronics - alternative energy, biotech, pharma. Great start-ups like the recently public Fluidigm (bio-MEMs) and Intermolecular (high throughput semiconductor processing development.) Artificial Muscle, Inc was bought by Bayer Materials Science in 2010, and while their main product is haptic for mobile gaming, an electroactive polymer can be an energy harvesting device, a pump, and a heater.

Until we, in the US, start asking ourselves "Can we be that nimble, that fast, that competitive" and put the steel back in our eyes we answer "YES!" we'll continue to be uncompetitive in the global marketplace. Even if we remove the labor cost efficiencies (for a minute) - the US simply does not have large workforces capable of moving this rapidly. We're not trained for it, and we're not wired to think for it. It would be an awesome sight to see if we could change to compete if even just on speed and adaptability.

Foxconn has nets mounted on the walls to discourage suicide attempts from the factory roof: http://irw.s3.amazonaws.com/awww%2Fimg%2Fawww_img_foxconn_factory2.jpg I wonder if the factory that makes these nets uses their own nets to discourage suicides: 'Everyone up! Tea and biscuit and then we have a rush order for more nets at Foxconn - they just got the orders for iPad 3!!'

This is old story for those who have worked in China for sometime. Read the paper "China: Factory to Studio" here. http://www.ddb.com/yellowpapers/. It was written almost 2 years back.

One element lost in the China story is where the money is made. iPhones may be manufactured in China, but they are designed in Cupertino, and marketed by Apple. Apple is the one that makes the serious money in this business, and it outsources activities that don't create value. The jobs that Apple keeps onshore are creative, stable, well-paying jobs that aren't going anywhere. As the NY Times piece and Sarah Lacy astutely point out, China gets the manufacturing work because it has developed an innovative system to beat out everyone else. That's all fine and good, but don't forget - this is still a low value proposition. Foxconn remains a supplier, and can be turfed for another company, should competition yield one. Either way, Apple won't, and shouldn't, manufacture. It is too busy making money elsewhere.

[...] Why China Wins [...]

Some people just don't get it, the point earlier that we are now in a global market could not be more pertinent. EITHER you can keep your idealistic western centric beliefs regarding worker rights OR you can look outside your sheltered little existence and realise that these rights are not afforded to MOST of the world's population. Does not make it right but it is a look into the future for what most people will have with working class backgrounds and few skills. Fuck all! Unless globalisation is reviewed and border controls on trade adjusted to actually suit the greater welfare of the average person rather than the shareholder return on equity next quarter, things will continue in this race to the bottom. There's no need to become Communists by any stretch however the pendulum of global trade has swung too far to the right at present and the average person's rights and future prosperity has been given away in return for people being able to buy throw away retail products for fuck all. If the average Joe wasn't shopping at Walmart and wandering around with his head so far up his ass people would be a lot more militant in defending their rights to a decent future.

[...] Why China wins.  (Pando Daily) [...]

Much of what has been said here about workers rights and being "forced out of bed at midnight" is an issue if you look at it from a western prospective. In China things are a little different. People want and are willing to work and do what it takes to hopefully create a better life for themselves. In the west I think we need to consider if our welfare system has created a situation that encourages laziness and apparent "workers rights" have in many ways made us less competitive both as individuals and nations. It is important for comentators not to always view things that happen in China in the same way that they would view the same situation in their own country

[...] Both Sarah Lacy and the New York Times covered the story of Apple iPhone manufacturing in China. The short of it is simple: companies don’t go to China because of cost anymore, but rather because a Chinese company provides better flexibility and higher quality than an American one. The days of cheap plastic chairs manufacturing in China are over- they outsource it to Vietnam now… Today’s China makes the most sophisticated devices in the world. [...]

Great article, thanks it was very informative. I have to agree however that it seems their is some degree of exploitation at play here regarding Chinese workers. We can compare it to the start-up culture in the States, however these hard working individuals are compensated very well with a mixture of salary, bonuses and options. I dont think a biscuit and cup of tea would cut it! All of a sudden I think of young children sewing designer sports goods. I think the real challenge is to see how democratic countries (with their 'damn' unions!) can compete with this.

[...] via pandodaily.com [...]

[...] Why China Wins [...]

Let's just stop buying products made overseas as much as we can, or delaying buying them as much as we can. For example, I'm not buying another mac until this one disintegrates.

It's is worth noting that for all Foxconn's "nimble excellence" as it were - the company lost money last year, while Apple made a fortune on the same products. Chinese manufacturing is only a success if it runs at a profit - and Foxconn are a Taiwanese organisation anyway.

We are regulating ourselves out of competition. We're also getting fat, dumb and happy - which is why we're producing so many college educated people with useless degrees and no talent (myself included). That said, China still has one major problem - China's one party state. The SEZs are limited in size and outside these zones property rights and the rule of law is inconsistant and shady. With more deregulation and privatization outside the SEZs China's growth will be limited.

Man this site is so refreshing from the garbage at the old site that, Rock on! ( I mean that in a very positive way)

Would love to see an investigative piece contrasting productivity levels of Foxconn's brazil manufacturing vs Foxconn's China facilities (to determine what makes one country more productive than the other). Or would a conclusion highlighting the productivity levels from a country with very protective labor laws vs a country with almost none be too obvious?

Coupa Cafe, not "Cuppa Cafe" :-)

I find it amusing that you give the perception there are factories with thousands of trained production workers just sitting there waiting for the phone call to start production in China. People who write this trash just feed the propaganda that the only way to succeed in manufacturing is to build products in China. Anyone with a brain knows there are a myriad production technologies and processes that need to be set up before high volume production can start: Supply Chain, Production Equipment and Tooling needs to be in place and operational, documentation, and the list goes on and on. Years ago I remember visiting a Hewlett Packard plant that was the darling of the news media in the manufacturing arena. One of the Executives joked that the P. R. effort at HP was the best in the world and the media bought their show completely. This has now transitioned to China. The media is wined and dined and sold on how great China is in manufacturing. The current reality is that China does have significant capabilities now that have come at the expense of the American worker over the last 30 years as the US and other countries have invested trillions of dollars getting them up to speed. Like the rest of Asia those governments have worked in lock step with their industries to insure that jobs would be created there. Currencies are manipulated to maintain favorable economic numbers. Favorable tax incentives are given to their industries. Import barries are placed to restrict imports and protect their industries. On this side of the Pacific our Government along with their labor unions buddies have aided and abetted the Asians in their rape of our manufacturing industry. The destruction of the middle class in our country is directly related to this process. American should demand the same treatment here.

anytime brady gets sacked - an angel gets its wings. when sarah lacy writes - All the angels in heaven get a new set of wings. :) <3 u sarah

It's amazing how everyone misses the point. Lamenting the conditions in Chinese factories while moral and appropriate won't change the situation and doesn't reflect the reality of their experience. Consider what a Chinese worker's life would be like if they didn't have a factory job – working in a rice paddy is not some agrarian utopia, it's mind-numbing, back breaking work with a fair prospect of starvation and death. So the Chinese government and Chinese companies must work to improve conditions as people agitate for workers to share in the benefits of China's industrialisation. Given. But what about the rest of the world? Should we try and emulate the Chinese industrial empire? That way lies madness. Its not about Western workers learning to be like Chinese workers, or about protecting jobs in any one country. It's about western workers learning to do something new, so that the Chinese can do what they do best and we can do what we do best. Steve Jobs was right - the jobs are gone. What are we doing to create new jobs?

The NYT story was good, but it wasn't entirely news. I've been reading James Fallows in The Atlantic for years on the China phenomena, and he's done a good job. This article from 2007 tells much the same story, including an extended take on Sarah's scene from the Sheraton Four Points in Shenzhen. A little quote that may or may not be from the Apple story: But what is of intense interest to him, he said, is a company that has built up a brand name and relationships with retailers, and knows what it wants to promote and sell next—and needs to save time and money in manufacturing a product that requires a fair amount of assembly. “That is where we can help, because you will come here and see factories that are better than the ones you’ve been working with in America or Germany.” Here are a few examples, all based on real-world cases: You have announced a major new product, which has gotten great buzz in the press. But close to release time, you discover a design problem that must be fixed—and no U.S. factory can adjust its production process in time. The Chinese factories can respond more quickly, and not simply because of 12-hour workdays. “Anyplace else, you’d have to import different raw materials and components,” Casey told me. “Here, you’ve got nine different suppliers within a mile, and they can bring a sample over that afternoon. People think China is cheap, but really, it’s fast.” Moreover, the Chinese factories use more human labor, and fewer expensive robots or assembly machines, than their counterparts in rich countries. “People are the most adaptable machines,” an American industrial designer who works in China told me. “Machines need to be reprogrammed. You can have people doing something entirely different next week.” The full story is at http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/07/china-makes-the-world-takes/5987/?single_page=true . Pretty amazing story, and this was 4 1/2 years ago.

China might be winning, but the Chinese are getting their asses kicked.

If the goal is to have factory workers at a company's beck and call so Americans can have more gadgets, then Silicon Valley really is out of touch. Occupy Wall Street will be camping out at your door, too.

The rah-rah cheerleading of this article makes it sound like this is a triumph of capitalism, but naively overlooks that much of the precision machining and supply chain knowhow was the result of state controls over foreign investment, effectively forcing the handover of western precision manufacturing to local companies, cheap labor was an inducement. This is not a Silicon Valley story, of energetic young engineers getting together nimbly and creating companies and working hard, 16 hours a day on code. This is the story of a company town moving people around like robots without regard to their well being. I wish Sarah, on her visits to China, would not just talk to management and executives in plush, modern Chinese offices, but go talk to the workers, sit with them in their cafeterias, go visit where they sleep, and ask them what they think. When a reporter from NPR tried this recently, the results were surprising.