Last week, Apple released its sixth annual supplier responsibility report, which details the results of its audits of factories throughout its supply chain. The company conducted more than 200 audits of suppliers last year.
Like most major technology companies, Apple's products are manufactured by large suppliers such as Taiwan's Foxconn. Foxconn, which employs more than a million people and operates enormous factories in China, has been under scrutiny in recent years.
At least 12 Foxconn workers have committed suicide and around 150 workers at a Foxconn factory in Wuhan spent two days on the roof, threatening mass suicide, in a protest over plans to move them to a new production line. Those workers were involved in producing Microsoft's Xbox but Foxconn also makes products for Amazon, Microsoft and HP, among others.
For the first time, Apple's supplier responsibility report lists the firm's major suppliers - more than 156 in all. Apple has typically been secretive about the companies that build its products.
Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal that his company wanted to be more transparent about standards in its supply chain. He said the company was "raising the bar" for the technology industry.
According to the report, Apple found that suppliers were in compliance with its policies preventing underage working 97 per cent of the time but complied only 38 per cent of the time with Apple's policy of restricting working time to 60 hours per week.
"Working hours is a complex issue," Mr Cook told the Wall Street Journal. But he said he was confident that the company could improve the situation.
The report also monitors the environmental impact, management systems, ethics and other areas of the suppliers' business. In cases where a company repeatedly breaches Apple's guidelines, the company says it terminates the relationship with the supplier.
Auret van Heerden, the president of the Fair Labour Association, said that standards set by suppliers could often do more than governments can. He said: “If you’re a 16-year-old girl in a developing country, your best chance of enjoying proper rights is if you get to work at a multinational. The power of their contract is more powerful than the power of law.”
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