Employees at the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn producing high-end tech equipment. | Youtube Screenshot

Recently Apple Inc, the maker of the revolutionizing and very popular iPhones and iPads, was pointed out on an article by the New York Times, about Apple's method of 'ignoring in-humane' working conditions in China- all in the name of making profits.

True, by proxy, Apple IS an "offender" in knowingly pushing technological boundaries on the backs of 'underpaid' and 'overworked' workers outside of the continental United States.

However, to be fair, a simple query- into which companies deal with the now infamous 3rd party manufacturer, Foxconn (NASDAQ:HNHPF)- reveal that Apple isn't the only one. Apple isn't the only company, assumed to, in turning their backs on human working conditions. And Apple sure isn't the only company to plea "ignorance" of 3rd party partners' methods of productions.

So, who are some major customers of Foxconn?

Acer, Apple, ASRock, Asus, Barnes & Noble, Cisco, Dell, EVGA Corp, HP, Intel, IBM, Lenovo, Logitech, Microsoft, MSI, Motorola, Netgear, Nintendo, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, Vizio.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple (not surprisingly) wasn't very thrilled with another episode of the media stamping Apple as the "only" offender. He'd written to his Apple employees, in a lengthy email.

As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.

He continued about the hands-on efforts of Apple, in continuing of inspections:

Every year we inspect more factories, raising the bar for our partners and going deeper into the supply chain. As we reported earlier this month, we’ve made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers. We know of no one in our industry doing as much as we are, in as many places, touching as many people.

He ended his email, with a note for Apple's commitment to worker descency and continued fight.

We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain. On this you have my word.

At the end of the day, Apple is, of course, 'guilty' of being associated with a company like Foxconn. And seems they know so, and are trying to work in trying to stamp down the causes of such news.

At least the effort's there, at Apple (albeit after being pushed to action by the media). Which is contrary to the perceivable non-actions of the other 'offenders' mentioned above.

But who would care about an Asus, IBM, or a Vizio? Their brands are not that sexy.

The public really does not like to read stories about companies that aren't sexy. Sensationalism is alive and well (Look at all the Cable news channels). In our society, we live and breathe it everyday.

As for Human rights abuses, it will always be with us, unfortunately. A blight we all should try to eliminate.

But ultimately, as long as consumers do not know (nor care) about how a product was produced, the merry-go-round will still turn. And category leaders like Apple (and others) will continue to use vendor partners like Foxconn for many seasons to come.

It's a double edged sword for Apple. It's a cruel world, but that's how the dice rolls.

Jason Kim for DailyHarrison.com | Contact Jason @jasonsjkim

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