Young Chinese women have small fingers, and that has made them a valuable contributor to iPhone production because they are more nimble at installing screws and other miniature parts in the small device, supply chain experts said.
China has millions of people who migrate around the country to work in factories as Apple revs up production around a new iPhone. They often work from the summer until Chinese New Year, when production slows down, so Apple’s suppliers don’t have to pay them for a full year of work. They live in dormitories connected to factories with assembly lines longer than a football field, clustered nearby component suppliers.
You gotta get those little hands building the little toys.
We make the dark joke because we know it’s true, but we can collectively point at a tech company and say it’s their fault, and still enjoy the fruits of their labor at prices we can afford.
Globalism - hyperglobal capitalism - is all about externalizing the negativities and internalizing the positives.
From the article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/technology/apple-iphone-trump-india-china.html
Is it wrong? Well, I’m actually not sure.
The Financial Times revealed that the iPhone X was manufactured by underage Chinese teenagers:
https://www.ft.com/content/7cb56786-cda1-11e7-b781-794ce08b24dc
It’s been the punchline of a dark joke for years.
You gotta get those little hands building the little toys.
We make the dark joke because we know it’s true, but we can collectively point at a tech company and say it’s their fault, and still enjoy the fruits of their labor at prices we can afford.
Globalism - hyperglobal capitalism - is all about externalizing the negativities and internalizing the positives.