Source : Procurement Leaders
Apple will share the initial costs of improving labour conditions at the Chinese factories with its supplier, Foxconn.
Foxconn chief Terry Gou announced that the companies would both be shouldering the costs of the price rises, but did not give a figure for the costs.
"We’ve discovered that this (improving factory conditions) is not a cost. It is a competitive strength," Gou told reporters on Thursday after the ground-breaking ceremony for a new China headquarters in Shanghai.
"I believe Apple sees this as a competitive strength along with us, and so we will split the initial costs."
Both businesses have been spending heavily to fight a perception Foxconn’s plants in China are sweatshops with poor conditions for its million-strong labour force. Both have rejected criticisms levelled at them following a string of negative press as unjust.
Analysts have attributed weaker-than-expected first-quarter results at Foxconn’s flagship listed unit Hon Hai Precision Industry mainly to rising salary costs.