(edit title) Apple profit 'biggest in history' A disgusting company Options

[Great Scott]

A report by the BBC today comments on the highest profits made by a public company.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31012410
Apple makes huge profits at the expense of slave Labour and young Children and we continue to buy from them, they are carrying out some of the most disgusting practices ever.
Google

[Svensksmith]

I imagine any company that outsources labor to Asia is guilty of this...just so us consumers in the West can buy s--t that we don't really need.

[Great Scott]

I imagine any company that outsources labor to Asia is guilty of this...just so us consumers in the West can buy s--t that we don't really need.

You maybe right in some cases but other companies don't charge the excessive amount Apple does. 40% mark up on each product (Apple figures) is to high. One other thing to remember is that Apple are probably the biggest tax dodgers in the world. I would also like to add what one person quoted on the BBC comments, "It's always amazed me that Apple are seen as some fantastic company, that exist for the good of all mankind (and Steve Jobs was a God) and yet Microsoft are seen as nasty and Bill Gates is the anti-Christ.

But Bill Gates has done huge amounts for the world and given away millions, if not billions but what exactly did Steve Jobs do ?"

[Gamla Hälsingebock]

Everyone is after the elusive title "king of the sandbox", so to speak...The ones that out achieve everyone else are criticized...

I wonder how Apple shareholders feel about the company???

[skogsbo]

the company is only as guilty as the people who buy the products. It is no different either for Samsung, htc, etc.. if people want to be so ethical they should be paying about

[Gamla Hälsingebock]

I think that some of the problems lies with the fact that Third World workers are toiling for small wages and in sub standard work conditions...and we take exception to that...what short memories we have...

The Industrial Revolution brought those same things to the now First World countries...

[Hisingen]

- - -. I would agree that Gates and Jobs are chalk & cheese when it comes to ethics.

One very big difference is that Gates is still living - - -

[Gamla Hälsingebock]

Yes he is alive...and doesn't he provide charities to Third World (India) peoples mostly???

Hey!...He could fund a few charities in the country that made him what he is to day...Yes???

I don't know/hear of any...

Appalachia could use a few bucks of investment money

[intrepidfox]

I know that children in the 3rd world are being used as cheap labour but what would happen if they did not work? My guess is that they would starve. A catch 22 situation

[Gamla Hälsingebock]

Exactly!!!

People are thought of as greedy and malicious when they introduce opportunity to those who could never do it themselves...like I said before...the First World went through the same things on the road to success...why shouldn't others???

Something about breaking eggs to make an omelet...

[LLHope]

Microsoft are seen as nasty and Bill Gates is the anti-Christ. But Bill Gates has done huge amounts for the world and given away millions, if not billions but what exactly did Steve Jobs do ?"

Back in 1997 Microsoft were under investigation by the Department of Justice in the US for questionable business practices and in the EU they were under investigation for abusing their dominant position. Apple had just suffered a HUGE loss and was weeks away from being declared bankrupt. Microsoft could not let Apple go out of business because they needed the desktop competitor to remain on the market otherwise they would suffer sanctions and more in both Europe and USA.

A deal was done under the guise of a patent cross-licensing agreement where Microsoft paid 150 Million USD to Apple and would also develop and release Internet Explorer, Office and more for the Mac platform. The money gave Apple some breathing space to re-invent itself, they brought back Steve jobs, and Microsoft had a desktop competitor that survived making it much harder to prove Microsoft had a monopoly position. The non-voting shares Microsoft got in return for the 150 Million, were sold in early 2000's.

I know that children in the 3rd world are being used as cheap labour but what would happen if they did not work? My guess is that they would starve. A catch 22 situation

Yes, UNICEF, off-the-record will say the same thing. In many areas where there is child labour that is the only income the entire family have. To remove it without having something else in-place can be devastating for those families. Sad as it is that is the case. It isn't always as simple as not buying the products and naming and shaming companies.

[skogsbo]

To remove it without having something else in-place can be devastating for those families. Sad as it is that is the case. It isn't always as simple as not buying the prod ... (show full quote)

To remove it without having something else in-place can be devastating for those families. Sad as it is that is the case. It isn't always as simple as not buying the products and naming and shaming companies. ... (hide full quote)

I agree, you have to put what little faith you have in things like 'fairtrade' agreements and companies advertised or claimed ethics, hoping there is a grain of truth in there somewhere. But, the devil is in the detail, many banking sector 'ethical funds' have some very suspect companies, then if you dig even deeper into the companies where they source their components from etc. you find bad practice very quickly.

[Gamla Hälsingebock]

You only have to look at any consumer goods/items in your home...please include your car too...how many of these items are made in your country???

If they were made by "your" people you probably could not have as many due to what they cost!!!

Isn't free trade great!!!

[Svensksmith]

Talk about Catch 22, with jobs fleeing to cheap labor countries and wages declining due to the competition from said countries, consumers can only afford to buy the cheap products from overseas.

[Rick Methven]

Yet Apple charge prices for their cheap labour products that would still give them a profit if they were made in the USA. Also shareholders gripe that they are not increasing dividends.
One theory in the industry is that with no real new innovations the company is building a cash mountain to survive the bleak years to come when they are no longer the apple of the gullable consumers eye. They do not want to go the same way as Blackberry. Naming a product/company after a fruit is most probably not a smart move in the long run.
The one and only Apple product I bought was an apple II in the 80's. Then it was innovative and broke the monopoly and dominance of MS Does for a while.