Insatiable demand for iPhones has helped Apple achieve first quarter profits of $13B, more than double that for the same period in the previous year. It’s been a bonanza for  Apple shareholders. Not so much for the Chinese workers assembling the iPhones.

In a piece written for the New York Times, Charles Duhigg and David Barboza describe an accident at a factory where employees polished thousands of iPad cases a day. “Two people were killed immediately, and over a dozen others hurt. As the injured were rushed into ambulances, one in particular stood out. His features had been smeared by the blast, scrubbed by heat and violence until a mat of red and black had replaced his mouth and nose.”

Chinese employees “work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records, according to company reports and advocacy groups that, within China, are often considered reliable, independent monitors.” [Read more...]