Where Do They (The Products You Buy) Come From?

(8/23/2012) In a lengthy global supply chain, consumers rarely pay much attention to where do the product they buy come from? How are they made? The working conditions of factory labor in Apple's suppliers (like Foxconn) in China has sparked many media reports on their poor environments. However, it is because it's from Apple (the popular iPhone & iPad maker). The working conditions for Samsung Galaxy III or Google Nexus 7 tablet are not much better than Foxconn (if those products are not made by Foxconn). There is another sad story about the tin-mining pit on Bangka Island in Indonesia.

From the flat-screen tvs we watch, the cars we drive and the smartphones we use, tin is inside. So we are all part of their poor working conditions. The following figure show the raw material supply chain before the tin reaches Foxconn.