Apple

• Headquaters


  headquaters and research and design centre are in Apple Park, Cupertino, northern California

  European, Middle Eastern and African headquaters are in Cork, Ireland
• Other facilities


  further large campus & MacPro assembly facility: Austin, Texas

  5 data centres in the USA
• Positive impacts on Ireland

  6000 workers employed on iMac production line or in online customer support and call centres at Hollyhill, Cork's largest private employer

  Its presence and designation of Cork as its logistics hub enhances Ireland's reputation and global connectivity

  Its presence generated around 30,000 jobs in ancillary (supplementary) work

  Apple has attracted other high tech firms to the area

  attracted a highly skilled workforce and provided an inspiration for local education, research and development

  It has expanded and contributed to infrastructural improvements in the city

  It has enhanced Irelands reputation for hosting high tech TNCs
• Assembly


  Assembly outsourced to Taiwanese partner companies Foxconn and Regatron. Foxconns main production base is Foxconn city, Shenzhen near Hong Kong followed by large assembly complexes at Zhengzhou, Henan province and Chengdu, Sichuan province in central China
• Why are mainstream products often produced in China?


  Due to the large, young, skilled, and non-unionized workforce willing to work long hours for low wages
• Production is outsourced to

  Taiwanese electronics firm Foxconn, which competed for Apple's manufacturing contract based on low production costs
• China's first successful Special Economic Zone (SEZ)

  located in Shenzhen, offering incentives to attract foreign companies
• Why are components shipped directly to the assembly complexes in China

  to reduce stockpiling and the number of warehouses to one centralised location in California
• Where are MacPros manufactured for the domestic market?

  In Austin, Texas
• Ireland


  Apple was lured to locate in Ireland in 1980 at the time of high unemployment by the governments 12.5% corporation tax which was the second lowest in the EU
• Negative impacts: Tax Practises

  Apple uses subsidiary firms in other countries to declare profits and pay a lower rate of tax

  In 2014 the US and EU claimed it had recieved favourable tax treatment from the Irish government. It caused tension between the USA and EU as each claimed Apple owed them tax on their profits

  In 2016 the EU competition commissioner concluded they had recieved illegal state aid from Ireland and Apple was ordered to pay €13 billion in unpaid taxes for 2004-14
• Negative impacts on Ireland

  Many of the skilled workers at Hollyhill ae foreign nationals so Apple has been criticised for not creating sufficient work for local people
• Distribution of stores


  Over half of its retail stores are in the US, 115 in Europe and the Middle East and 42 in China
• China


  Foxconn employes 1.3 million people working on Apples products in its business parks in China and claims to support nearly 5 million jobs in the country as they supply other leading high tech firms
• China: labour practices: working conditions

  workers live on site and are mostly young migrant workers from other parts of China

  They work on average of 62 hours each week for around $300 per month, half of which is taken up by living expenses
• China: labour practices: health and safety


  workers have in the past been exposed to toxic chemicals used to clean the products

  earplugs and googles may not always have been available to employees when working on certain machinery
• China: labour practices: student and child labour

  In 2017 student interns at Foxconn were found to have been working extensive hours against its own policies

  In 2018 Quanta Computer (another contractor, which manufactures Apple watches) was found to have been employing high school students as interns. Factories are allowed by provincial authorities in China to employ under 18s as interns or trainees but Apple do not because of their commitment to social responsibility

  Following these cases Apple now demands contractors limit student interns to 10% of factories workforces