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China to Be Laptop Leader
prostoalex writes "IMS Research says that by the end of the year People Republic of China might become world's biggest laptop manufacturer. The plants will be largely owned by Taiwanese manufacturers, though. Taiwan is current #1."
Original Design Manufacturer. They are not just about cheap production labor -- they design the whole computer from motherboard out, create entire product roadmaps etc... and deliver it on a platter to OEMs who want to slap a label on it.
they are taking away all the business from tradition EMS type outsourcers (Solectron, Flextronics, Jabil, et al) in desktop computers and are on the move in laptops
The perspective that it's entirely about cheap production labor is both naive and flat wrong.
>Once the companies leave then a bust cycle will begin.
...Then again, perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe you were being facetious.
Why would a company leave during a positive cycle?
>There will be a prolonged period of unemployment and depression/recession. Eventually the standard of living will be pretty much where it was before.
For a short while. It seems most Free Markets have to go through growing pains such as these. Then things will improve, as they almost always do.
>This form of legalized slavery will start another chain reaction and before long a sizable chunk of the humans on this planet will be imprisoned and enslaved.
Eh? That doesn't make any sense. There's never been a single successful (as in, still running) enslave the majority of the population regime that I know of.
>People will be jailed for having one to two marijuana seeds for ten years and in prison they will work for AT&T making telemarketing calls.
>Oh wait a minute that's already happening right here in the USA.
That's enslavement? Sure, it's a restrction of rights, but I think I'd rather not be allowed pot then have to work in a factory sewing together shoes for a few pennies a day.
But, as I read on, I see you're not talking about shoe sewing, you're talking about people having to make annoying phone calls. Oh, gag me with a spoon!
>I am sure these kinds of prison labor programs will be expanded hugely in the US and overseas.
Well, I'm not. In fact, I am sure that over time "prison labour campaigns" will disappear, as they have largely been shown to be inneffective. The fact that almost no exported goods from China are from these labour campaigns proves it.
The fact is prison labour can't even make decent mail bags, never mind complex electronics.
If you ask me, between being required to work your time off in safe conditions and being caged together where inmates beat on each other, I'll take the first one every time.
And, before you mention the article...
Behind the pros for the companies, there are some very big cons for the convicts. Substandard or sweatshop conditions are commonly reported. Prisoners are made to work overlong days, and put in overtime without compensation (Liu 16);
And this is different from your boss leaning on you... how?
If a prisoner refuses to work, they can't torture him into it. The worst that will happen is he'll have to complete his full sentence rather than get a slap on the wrist. That's the cost of choosing not to contribute to society.
some former inmate workers for CMT, a garment company, were able to file a lawsuit claiming that their 60-day training was unpaid, that they were given unrealistic quotas, and were instructed to replace Honduran tags in garments with "Made in USA" labels (16)
Oh God no! They made them sew LABELS on things? Woe is me!
As far as the unpaid training goes, I've seen companies go bust leaving people with 4 months unpaid. At least these inmates get to have jobs. Not that I don't wish them the best of luck suing their employer.
What would be minor issues in a non-prison workplace are punished extravagantly: pay is docked for "cussing" and telephone privileges are taken away.
ROTFLMAO! If you worked in MY store, and I caught you cussing at customers, I'd fire you on the spot. Period. No questions asked because it would be listed as a firable offense in your contract. How's that compared to losing telephone privileges and having your pay docked?
Pharmaceutical companies Parke-Davis and Upjohn were open about having "exploited the skills" of inmates by making them work 16-hour days (Sawyer 213).
Again, woe is me! Not a 16-hour day! I mean, my dad NEVER did that at his job, no, *never* (not). What a riot!
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