[Rumour] PS4 Assembly Line Reportedly Sabotaged by Foxconn Interns

[rcazador]

For the people defending Sony, do note that, Foxconn's other products remain unaffected. So either this rumour is a hoax, or Sony's deal with Foxconn was so terrible/poorly negotiated that the interns were forced to turn against them.

Either way it's hilarious watching the Sony fanboys and their 50% Faster GPUs using all that graphics power to drive the BLOD. They can't blame Sony even when they just got a $399 door stop.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

For the people defending Sony, do note that, Foxconn's other products remain unaffected. So either this rumour is a hoax, or Sony's deal with Foxconn was so terrible/poorly negotiated that the interns were forced to turn against them.

Either way it's hilarious watching the Sony fanboys and their 50% Faster GPUs using all that graphics power to drive the BLOD. They can't blame Sony even when they just got a $399 door stop.

Protip, Sony's deals has absolutely nothing to do with Foxconn's employees or their interns.

 

[Foxi4]

For the people defending Sony, do note that, Foxconn's other products remain unaffected. So either this rumour is a hoax, or Sony's deal with Foxconn was so terrible/poorly negotiated that the interns were forced to turn against them.

Either way it's hilarious watching the Sony fanboys and their 50% Faster GPUs using all that graphics power to drive the BLOD. They can't blame Sony even when they just got a $399 door stop.

Mmm-yeah, no. Sony has no control whatsoever over what happens over at Foxconn, much like you don't have any control whatsoever whenever you order something made to order.

When you walk into a restaurant, order a soup, and the cook just happens to be in a foul mood, there's nothing you can do to stop him from spitting into your bowl, even though you're paying the same price as any other customer.

Don't bring in raving fanboyism into the discussion.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Either way it's hilarious watching the Sony fanboys

Stopped reading.

 

[calmwaters]

Welcome to the world of business?

We could not produce all the affordable electronics we have access to right now without the cheap manufacturing that companies like Foxconn provide. I mean, take a look at this article; it's a difference of $4.2 billion, and that's just Apple.

Companies will turn to Foxconn and its ilk because they keep the costs low, customers will continue to buy the products because, at the end of the day, their number 1 focus is their own bottom line, and people will continue to work at these factories because, for all the shitty working conditions and horrible mistreatment, a job is a job. This happens whenever a country begins its industrial development (England and the US are certainly no strangers to it), and unfortunately there's no quick solution. Change and reform takes a long, long while to get off the ground.

Rewrite; sorry, have to.

Ebenezer Scrooge? The prices for goods stayed the same, but he hoarded all the money, so much so that Bob Cratchitt could barely support his family. You say Foxconn keeps the prices low and the people will continue to work at these factories, even with the shitty working conditions. Bob continued to work for Scrooge even though he was a miser; he needed the job. But this story has a happy ending. Foxconn, who knows. Like you said, change takes a while to happen.

 

[DSGamer64]

The rumour has been floating around for the past 24-or-so hours, but it wasn't reported here yet so I made a thread about it.

As for the whole "putting things together" part of your post, this is the bitter cost of the luxury we live in - manufacturing in China is simply expotentially cheaper than anywhere else, especially when the company hires interns en-masse - workers who aren't even paid for their jobs more often than not. Internship is indentured servitude for the sake of obtaining a degree, more or less.

Question, why the fuck doesn't Sony just use robotic assembly lines? Foxconn should have access to that kind of technology as other forms of manufacturing and assembly are capable of doing it. It's cheaper in the long term, the work is more accurate too and you aren't forcing workers to do menial jobs for shit wages.

 

[Gahars]

(I'm misreading this post and article.) So... Apple is dependent on that extra 4 billion dollars for their survival? The meatpackers in Chicago had the worst job conditions ever and they were getting paid a pretty dismal rate for it. It was only when Sinclair Lewis published The Jungle that the conditions changed and a minimum wage was established. And a minimum age was established too. Maybe this'll happen to China someday.

A) I'm not sure if anyone's told you this, but $4 billion dollars is hardly chump change.
B) Companies are designed to earn the maximum amount of money possible. If you aim only to earn "just enough" then you are running your company poorly, you will be unable to expand, and you will be routed by your competitors in no time flat. I'm not advocating for companies to be evil or whatever, but at the end of the day, they're businesses, not charities.
C) You're thinking of Upton Sinclair.
D) The Jungle prompted reform in sanitation standards and just about nothing else. The minimum wage wasn't established until FDR's administration, and strict regulations on working conditions (like laws banning child labor) didn't come about until the 20s and 30s.
E) It will happen to China; this is what happens to pretty much all industrial countries. The US' industrial revolution began in the 1800s, and real standards weren't established until the 1900s. Unfortunately, it's a long, drawn out process, and once China starts setting proper standards, everyone will move on to the next rising industrial nation.

Don't get me wrong, Foxconn is all around awful; it's just that this sort of awful is nothing new.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Question, why the fuck doesn't Sony just use robotic assembly lines? Foxconn should have access to that kind of technology as other forms of manufacturing and assembly are capable of doing it. It's cheaper in the long term, the work is more accurate too and you aren't forcing workers to do menial jobs for shit wages.

A robot would be insanely expensive compared to what your average factory worker makes in China. Probably 20+ years salary, not including maintenance on the robot.

In other words they got the cheapest robot you can get.... (at least that is how they are treated.)

But there are other factories in China where they make the conditions at Foxconn look like a vacation get away.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/chinese-labor-camp-worker_n_2370216.html

The guy was imprisoned for pretty much nothing, but at least he was "reeducated"...

 

[hhs]

It's clearly symptomatic of a greater issue regarding Chinese labor and trade.

Sony should reconsider doing business with a company that puts out damaged products just because it looks initially cheaper when it'll have to replace units at cost down the road. Paying workers and giving them better standards will seemingly cost more up front but longitudinally reduce unforeseen/unpredictable expenditures down the road.

Unethical business practices should be punished and seeing as how the Chinese state won't do it and its trading partners don't or won't apply pressure, it's up to the consumers to financially punish those who do business with antisocial enterprises until they cease to be appealing.

 

[urbanman2004]

Foxconn sucks. Isn't there another firm where these tech companies can get to products assembled at?

 

[Pedeadstrian]

Dear Foxconn workers,

I know your situation is sad and junk, but that's no reason to break what ended up being the PS4 I won. I wanna sell that piece of junk, yo. Next time you feel like breaking something to send a message, why not be like the mobsters and make it a thumb or a neck?

 

[shakirmoledina]

interns, that's the story of their life

 

[Amber Lamps]

Good ol' take pride in your work eh? Sure beats the American ethic of taking pride in your work. Things like this can happen when cheaping out on labor to a communist land.

At any rate, I'm returning my PS4s. No idea where they were made, don't care!

 

[Nathan Drake]

Good ol' take pride in your work eh? Sure beats the American ethic of taking pride in your work. Things like this can happen when cheaping out on labor to a communist land.

At any rate, I'm returning my PS4s. No idea where they were made, don't care!

I wish your post was satire, but having seen you post before, I fear you're entirely serious. Two facts for you:
- Americans haven't taken pride in their ability to manufacture quality products for their own country since the big push during WWII that repaired the broken economy. The idea that Americans are quality creators stems back to ideas centuries old and people that haven't been relevant manufacturers for almost as long.
- Name a large company that sells a good, and odds are, they outsource to China. If it's a service, it's likely somewhere such as India. It's cheaper, easier, and it gives companies the ability to satisfy as many customers as possible.

As for mentioning your returning your PS4s, way to mention it out of context. You already mentioned in another thread that you're returning them because you prefer for PC for gaming. No need to make it sound as if this has any kind of bearing on the decision.

 

[Bladexdsl]

man it really must suck to work for sony!

 

[Amber Lamps]

I wish your post was satire, but having seen you post before, I fear you're entirely serious. Two facts for you:
- Americans haven't taken pride in their ability to manufacture quality products for their own country since the big push during WWII that repaired the broken economy. The idea that Americans are quality creators stems back to ideas centuries old and people that haven't been relevant manufacturers for almost as long.
- Name a large company that sells a good, and odds are, they outsource to China. If it's a service, it's likely somewhere such as India. It's cheaper, easier, and it gives companies the ability to satisfy as many customers as possible.

As for mentioning your returning your PS4s, way to mention it out of context. You already mentioned in another thread that you're returning them because you prefer for PC for gaming. No need to make it sound as if this has any kind of bearing on the decision.

Commodore, Atari, Apple, Converse, AC/Delco Remy, Harley Davidson, to name a few. Some in the past and some in the current times. I was taught to take pride in American craftsmanship but those whom I end up getting employed to don't care so I guess we can blame the business and not the employee in this case.

But yeah I wasn't kidding, I am going to return the PS4s. I couldn't flip em and they are of no use to me.

 

[Nathan Drake]

man it really must suck to work for sony!

It's working for Foxconn, not Sony. Sony sets up a contract with Foxconn that the company agrees is reasonable, and they then do what they do to meet the quota in order to get Sony the items. Foxconn is notorious for being piss poor in how they treat their employees though, and as was already mentioned, many, many big companies use Foxconn for manufacturing.

 

[Bladexdsl]

It's working for Foxconn, not Sony.

you don't see the guys on the wii-u assembly lines sabotaging them and their with Foxconn too.

 

[Nathan Drake]

you don't see the guys on the wii-u assembly lines sabotaging them and their with Foxconn too.

Why sabotage the sales of something that has done a fine job sabotaging itself?

 

[Taleweaver]

So if your PS4 works perfectly, all the praise goes to sony. But if it fails, then foxconn is to blame?

No. Let's get a few things straight here: like most internationally shipped goods, electronics are cheap. Too cheap. And that's the thing about multinationals: for some reason, we allow them not to know or care about entire parts of the production process. They just draw the plans and tell other companies "look guys...we want to make this here device. Who of you can do this the cheapest?".

It's that mentality that sort of pushes companies like foxconn to have these sort of working conditions. It's not because their managers are spawns of the devil or created a company with the intention of doing evil...it's because they have no other choice if they want to keep their company running. If they don't abuse their employees into terrible working conditions, sony will simply pick another manufacturer which lower costs.