Vietnamese bargain away mobile phones, looking forward for iPhones 5

Vietnamese bargain away mobile phones, looking forward for iPhone 5

VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of Vietnamese people have been trying to sell the smart phones they are using to buy iPhone 5, which would hit the market in September. Therefore, a lot of smart phone models have become surprisingly cheap.

It is highly possible that Apple would use the name “iPhone 5” for its sixth-generation iPhone model. iPhone 5 is really a beautiful name, which is believed to be more favorite than “The New iPhone.”

As for oriental countries, including Vietnam, “four” is not a lucky numeral, while “five” is really a very lucky number because it relates to the five basic elements in the oriental philosophy and symbolizes the upper class.

Analysts believe that Apple would install a lot of special features for iPhone 5 – the first smart phone model in the post-Steve Jobs period. Especially, a director of Foxonn has said iPhone 5 would overshadow Galaxy SIII.

Vietnam, like any other markets, especially favors iPhone series. It is really a big market for iPhone products also because of the habit of Vietnamese high income earners who regularly change their smart phones. They would throw away the phones they are using to buy the next-generation products, even though the products in use are also very good with many outstanding features.

At present, iPhone 4S, HTC One X, Galaxy SIII and Lumia 900 are considered the most expensive products thanks to their diversified features.

iPhone 4S distributed by FPT now has the quoted sale price at 17.4 million dong, which is believed to be “overly high,” if noting that it is going to be a “previous-generation product.”

Meanwhile, private run hi-tech shops are selling iPhone 4S at 14.5 million dong only. However, despite the price reductions, iPhone 4S have been selling slowly on the days before the launching of the next generation iPhone.

A salesman of a shop on Ba Trieu Street admitted that it is very difficult to sell iPhone 4S in August, because consumers are now looking forward for iPhone 5.

“We wish that iPhone 5 would hit the market soon to stop the “wait-period” of clients. They would flock to our shop when they can see iPhone 5 with their eyes,” he said.

Since people expect iPhone 5, other super products have become less “glitter” in the eyes of consumers. HTC One X and Galaxy SIII, which are believed to belong to the same upper class, for example, have seen the prices decreasing.

The Gioi Di Dong, the biggest distribution chain, is now selling Galaxy SIII at 15.8 million dong and HTC One X at 15.2 million dong. Meanwhile, Nhat Cuong, a private shop, has announced the price reductions to 14.3 and 13.5 million dong.

However, despite the price reductions, the demand for the smart phone models remains weak.

“We expect the new sale season which would come in September, when students enter the new academic year,” Pham Thai, the manager of a mobile phone shop said.

“The market is very quiet now. No one would buy brand new products at this moment, when people expect a new super product,” he added.

The second hand product market has become more bustling recently, where used products have been bargained away. The sellers are the high income earners, who would sell their phones at a loss to shift to use other products.

A lot of iOS users want Android, Window Phone products, and vice versa. Especially, many people plan to buy iPhone 5s right after they hit the Vietnamese market.

Source: VTC

Rights group says Apple suppliers in China breaking labor laws | Look At Vietnam

Apple Inc’s suppliers in China have violated local labor laws when they imposed excessive overtime and skimped on insurance, a New York-based labor rights group said.
Apple and its suppliers such as Taiwanese tycoon Terry Gou’s Foxconn Technology Group have been the target of labor rights groups, which say the world’s most valuable technology company are making iPhones and iPads in massive sweat shops.
"From our investigations we found that the labor rights violations at Foxconn also exist in virtually all other Apple supplier factories, and in many cases, are actually significantly more dire than at Foxconn," China Labor Watch said in a 133-page report released on Thursday.
A four-month investigation through April showed workers work up to 180 hours of overtime a month during peak periods, exceeding the legal limit of 36 hours per month, the group said, citing Riteng, a unit of Taiwan’s Pegatron Corp, as an example.
Some factories also omit medical insurance as required by the law while workers are exposed to hazardous conditions, according to the report.
China Labor Watch interviewed 620 workers at 10 factories run by Apple suppliers, including Toyo Precision Appliance and BYD Electronic (International) Co.
The group also spoke with workers at factories run by units of Quanta Computer Inc, Wintek Corp and US-listed Jabil Circuit Inc.
The companies couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
"As part of our ongoing supplier responsibility program, our team has conducted thorough audits at every facility in China Labor Watch’s report," Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman based in Cupertino, California, said in an e-mail.
"In some places, our auditors found issues similar to those described by China Labor Watch, including overtime violations," she said, when asked to comment on the report.
Dismal conditions
The report singled out Riteng for dismal work conditions, saying workers work almost 12 hours a day, longer than 10 hours a day at Foxconn, Apple’s main supplier.
Half of Riteng’s workers described safety conditions as "bad," more than Foxconn’s 2 percent, according to the report.
The average hourly wage at Riteng is 8.2 yuan ($1.29), well below the average rate 10.2 yuan at Foxconn.
The Pegatron unit was not immediately available for comment.
Labor groups say wages have generally been on the rise, though the growth has been slower than inflation.
"Wages are certainly going up, but they are still a very long way from what you consider a decent wage because inflation in the major cities in southern China is going up all the time," said Geoffrey Crothall of China Labor Bulletin.
"It’s generally better at the larger factories, but the problem with Foxconn and a lot of the other Taiwanese, Hong Kong-owned manufacturers, the management culture there is still very authoritarian, quite dictatorial. People say it’s quasi-military."
James Wu, a spokesman for Catcher Technology Co, which was also mentioned in the report, said the proportion of short-term labor it employs without having to provide severance compensation was actually lower than that described by China Labor Watch.
"Our dispatch rate is 20-30 percent, lower than the rate of around 80 percent mentioned in the report," Wu said.
Catcher also put their workers through a three-day training program to prepare them for their jobs.
"In summary, our company provides benefits for workers that exceed basic requirements," Wu said.
Making checks
Apple said it had been making checks at its supply chain partners and regularly publishes reports on workers’ situation on its website (http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/).
The company, which monitors worker hours of more than 700,000 workers in its supply chain, said it had been following up to make sure suppliers comply with its labor standards.
Workers typically have little legal representation in China, where labor laws are sometimes not strictly enforced. Unions are also often not effective in providing feedback to management, labor rights groups said.
Following a spate of critical reports detailing unsafe factory practices at Foxconn plants that triggered worker deaths and suicides, Apple this year allowed the U.S.-based Fair Labor Association (FLA) to conduct a high-profile probe of Foxconn’s factories in China.
"The process of change in our company continues, and competitive wages, improved living conditions and the abolition of the use of dispatched workers by our company are some examples of this," Foxconn said in an e-mailed statement.
"Our considerable investment in this process will change our industry through the positive example we are setting for other companies."

Reuters