A Case Study of Apple Inc in China supply factories: Legal and Ethical Perspectives

The purpose of this article was to explore and examine the legal and ethical perspectives of the labor practices of Apple in its relationship to its suppliers in China. Despite its reputation as the world’s most admired and innovative company, Apple has been plagued by negative reports of labor abuses in its supply factories in China since 2006, and the same abuses still persist today despite Apple’s repeated promises to improve the working conditions. Based on legal and ethical analyses of this case, Apple’s decision to outsource their business to China was predominantly due to cheap labor costs, and as such, the abusive labor practices, both ethically and legally, by its suppliers were largely ignored by Apple. For this study we reference audits, publishing reports, and joining FLA. Consequently, this on-going illegal yet not-enforced and unethical business and labor practices by the western mega multinational companies will continue in China or in any other country as long as their profits are greater than their costs.