Sunday, June 13, 2010

The End of Cheap MIC Goods

Nope, the MIC I refer to in the subject line is not Malaysian Indian Congress. It means Made in China.

There were two big news for Apple fans recently – one good and the other bad. The good news was Apple had announced the much-awaited iPhone 4. The bad news was that Foxconn, the company which made iPhone in China, had agreed to raise the wages of its workers by as much as 66%.

Foxconn’s factory in China had been criticized as sweatshop following spates of suicide attempts among the workers. To appease the workers, and to repair image, the contract manufacturer was forced to hike the wages. This essentially means the cost for making iPhone will increase. Ultimately the higher cost will be passed on to the consumers. Expect higher price for iPhone.


But Foxconn was not the only company to have faced with higher cost issue. Honda also had to increase the wages of its employees in China after they staged a walkout. Eventually, factories workers in the Middle Kingdom will demand better pay and better working condition. In the next few years, expect everything made in China – from iPhones to DVD players to fridge magnets – to sell for higher price.


In long run, multi-national companies may move their production lines to still cheaper countries such as Vietnam or Cambodia. Until then, tighten your belt.

18 comments:

  1. Haha :D I thought MIC is our MIC. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I echo Tekkaus' comment...hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Given China's prosperity, the rich-poor divide is so so far off.

    I think it's good news for these chinese workers to get a dramatic payrise, though the improved pay is still far off from other countries.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Okay, hear the socialist me talk! I think it's great the workers' wages are raised. Seriously, considering the price of iSomething goods, they should at least get a good share of it.

    Plus in my opinion, if you can afford buying an iPhone or iWhatever, you can pay a few dollars more and indirectly do your share to end appealing work conditions.

    ReplyDelete
  5. tekkaus, Mei Teng
    Haha... I didn't want to make the title too long, so I use acronym.

    shingo, Zhu
    Agree that the workers deserve better pay.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well I don't mind paying more if they improve on the quality though..

    Btw, 4 Kings = 4 dai tin wong in Cantonese :P Maybe I should have written "4 big sky kings" LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm all for improving working conditions. I've read about some atrocious working conditions.

    I like your new template - big enough print and color scheme is easy on the eyes. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  8. my friend bought an iphone... i mean made in china. the different between the 'original' iphone and the one made in china, it doesn't has TV. hehe... so which one is better?

    just that, people keep pointing at her and ask:

    "oi china punya ka?"

    but to me, who cares? :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. aiyoh, MIC just make us so easily link with the recent GAS campaign lor.. hahaha :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. well, i guess what we are using now, a lot are made in china.. just look around your accessories and electrical appliances, all MIC..

    ReplyDelete
  11. hmmm, for sure iPhone 4G will be more expensive, but to which extent?? and somemore Foxconn is gonna have 66% cost increase..

    ReplyDelete
  12. ok ok, so really not impacting me at all, cos i still have not planned to have an iPhone yet~~ :p

    ReplyDelete
  13. witch
    Ha... Chinese quality control...

    happysurfer
    I didn't create the new template.

    Faisar
    Aren't all iPhones made in China?

    SK
    Not just iPhone will cost more. All other things MIC will be impacted.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It is always the little people who will LUGI.

    People can boycott if they want to.

    ReplyDelete
  15. http://www.enufisenuf.co.nz/

    Go back to my post, I added more info and linked to the above. This has nice video, but can be disturbing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. ur background same v me?hehe....wat is navbar?dun understand....

    ReplyDelete
  17. read about Foxconn news, sound so scary.

    p/s: thanks for telling me the title mistake, just changed. xoxo (^.^)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ann
    Apple die hard fans won't boycott iPhone.
    I have gone back to your post...

    stacey
    Navbar is the bar on top of your page.

    kikey
    No problem :)

    ReplyDelete