富士康，放下燙手的蘋果不容易
LIN YANG 報道 2013年05月08日
Ashley Pon for The International Herald Tribune
富士康台北總部內的一面平板電視機牆。長期以來，該公司一直為其知名客戶企業生產電子產品，現在它也開始自行研發。
台灣台北——郭台銘幾乎滿足了蘋果公司(Apple)的一切所需。他製造了所有
iPhone，而且是廉價製造。當蘋果公司因其中國工廠的低工資和惡劣工作條件而遭到批評時，吸引最多關注的不是蘋果公司，而是郭台銘的富士康科技集團
(Foxconn Technology Group)。
但如今，富士康作為全球化利與弊的有力證據，正在跨出不久前似乎還難以想像的一步：公司正在考慮在蘋果業務之外求發展。
富士康的總部位於台北，但其大部分製造業務位於中國大陸。公司意欲減少對蘋果公司的依賴，其新策略是從製造其他公司設計的產品轉向研發自己的產品，特別是積極推動大型平板電視的設計和製造。
“富士康意識到，蘋果公司的光環已不像過去那樣無可匹敵，”研究公司高德納(Gartner)的分析人員王菊梅(Jamie Wang)說。“所以他們產生了擔憂，認為自己需要開拓蘋果業務以外的領域來尋求發展。”
作為蘋果、戴爾(Dell)、惠普(Hewlett-Packard)和亞馬遜(Amazon)等數家美國電子設備企業的最大代工廠，富士康面臨著 諸多問題，如勞工騷亂、員工自殺、生產事故、以及對其工作環境和用工行為的投訴。該公司一直在和其客戶企業合作，以改進工作環境、增加薪酬待遇和提高勞工 標準。在4月的一個陰雨蒙蒙的午後，300名員工聚集在富士康科技集團的台北總部，在一尊道教神祗關帝的小神像前燒香和紙錢。身為富士康董事長的郭台銘信 奉道教，他把這尊神像從中國山西空運到台北，並親手抬到他的製造業帝國門口。在中國的傳統文化中，關帝被認為是生意興隆的庇護神。
好生意正是世界最大電子代工廠之一的富士康目前所需要的。上月，富士康（亦稱鴻海精密工業）報告其第一季度收入和去年同期相比下降了19.2%，因為其主要客戶蘋果公司減少了其iPhone和iPad訂單。
蘋果公司的代表拒絕對富士康的發展動向發表評論。但據分析人士估計，蘋果公司為富士康帶來了至少40%的收入。在蘋果之外求發展可能會有難度；如今 在電視製造業領域很難賺到錢，很多日本電子公司就能證實這一點。據富士康發言人邢治平(Simon Hsing)透露，富士康生產的60英寸電視只在台灣銷售了2萬台。邢治平拒絕透露其他合作商的銷售量。
富士康的困境反映出台灣代工製造廠所面臨的一個共同難題，這些代工廠的收益都嚴重依賴其客戶企業的收益。數家製造商，如HTC和華碩 (Asustek Computer)，都設法砍掉了所有的代工業務，轉而研發自己的品牌產品。但當他們開始和客戶企業競爭時，後者也開始拋棄他們。
有兩組數據可以表明富士康的問題。據NPD DisplaySearch報告，和去年相比，液晶電視的全球需求在2012年下降了1%，而全球對所有類型的電視機的需求下降了6%。據IDC報告，和 去年同期相比，全球個人電腦出貨量在2013年的第一季度下降了13.9%。
因此，很多製造商的利潤都在減少。
“台灣公司一直依賴於代工業務和外包業務，”台灣電機電子工業同業公會副總幹事羅懷家說。“現在，我們需要着眼原創設計製造，直接滿足消費者的需求。”
富士康消費電子部門副總裁趙凱（Kay Chiu，音譯）在回答電子郵件問題時說，消費者利益和垂直整合——控制供應鏈中的所有階段——是產品轉型的幕後推手。“我們還需要利用商業發展夥伴的優 勢，來向市場提供有吸引力也最具競爭力的產品，”趙凱說。其他富士康高管拒絕了記者多次提出的置評要求。
自去年開始，富士康的投資選擇就反映了其新策略。郭台銘以個人名義斥資約8.4億美元（約合51.7億元人民幣）買下了夏普公司(Sharp)在日 本堺市的液晶平板製造廠。夏普需要快速的資金注入，而郭台銘的購買讓其公司快速控制了液晶平板的生產，該組件的生產成本佔據了電視機生產成本的50%以 上。
而後富士康於10月推出一款60英寸的電視機，據邢治平稱，其中90%的組件，包括LCD板、背光燈以及機械部件等，都為富士康自己生產。
富士康還和中國的睿俠(RadioShack)以及美國的Vizio兩家公司合作，使用其品牌出售該電視機。“我們的合作商業務下滑確實影響到了我 們，如蘋果和諾基亞[Nokia]，”邢治平說。“我們不想乾等着訂單。我們正積極和許多客戶對話，看他們能否充分利用我們的產品。”邢治平說富士康並不 准備推出自己的品牌，相反，它打算利用其合作商的營銷及分銷網絡。
“鴻海是全球最大的電子製造服務商，”富士康高管趙凱說，“我們是大品牌商家客戶的平台，擁有自己的品牌並不符合公司的策略。”
在過去六個月里，富士康已逐漸找到了其他願意與之合作的商家。富士康成功地和幾家台灣和中國的有線電視及網絡電視運營商合作，後者將為其付費用戶購 買電視進行補貼，就像一些市場移動運營商補貼智能手機那樣。比如，電視機生產商和台灣的中華電信(Chunghwa Telecom)公司合作，消費者只需花3.38萬新台幣（約合7000元人民幣），就能買到一台60英寸的電視機，前提是消費者要和中華電信簽署一份兩 年期的電視服務合同，每月向其支付1158台幣。
分析人士稱，富士康的策略能實現兩個看上去相互矛盾的目標。該公司不想與其客戶直接競爭，因為它有來自索尼(Sony)、夏普以及東芝 (Toshiba)的訂單。（富士康還為惠普、戴爾等公司組裝個人電腦，為任天堂[Nintendo]組裝遊戲機，為亞馬遜組裝Kindle。）但是，它 也需要吸收堺市工廠生產的多餘LCD板，以利用其單位生產成本較低的優勢。
“那麼在花大約8.4億美元買下一座工廠後，你應該做什麼呢？”瑞信(Credit Suisse)分析師湯普森·吳(Thompson Wu)說。“這麼說吧，我得想清楚，是低價生產電視機，賺的錢越來越少，還是徹底閑置生產，選哪個讓我的境況會更好？”
巴克萊銀行亞洲科技研究部(Barclays’ Asia Technology Research)的主管楊應超(Kirk Yang)說，“台灣公司會一直採取這種做法。”
“它們會做賠本生意，只是為了進入該行業，”他說，“隨着其銷售量的增加、規模的擴大以及經驗愈加豐富，它們最終能獲得微小利潤。”
湯普森·吳說，在回購其股權時，郭台銘曾承諾購買堺市工廠一半的產出，這進一步加大了壓力。
研究公司NPD DisplaySearch估計，堺市工廠每年能生產670萬至680萬台60英寸的平板電視。
富士康的合作商Vizio能夠幫其處理其中一些電視機，但起到的作用也比較有限。根據NPD集團零售追蹤服務(NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service)的統計，在2013年的前三個月，Vizio在美國60英寸或者更大尺寸平板電視的市場銷售中佔了30%的份額，這一比例超過其他任何一 家公司，夏普佔到29%，屈居第二。然而，據NPD DisplaySearch的分析師保羅·格雷(Paul Gray)稱，在因節假日密布而格外重要的第四季度，Vizio在北美售出了40.3萬台上述尺寸的電視機。
許多分析師表示，他們認為富士康需要一個更大的電視機消費群體。電視機占富士康業務的比例不到5%，遠低於其從蘋果那裡得到的收入。而且一些分析師認為，富士康只是等待時機，等蘋果公司製造出一台可以改變行業面貌的電視機，再度提高需求。
蘋果和富士康的代表稱他們不能對這種猜測發表評論。
分析人士稱，郭台銘購買LCD工廠，並將電視機生產垂直整合於其原有業務，這些舉動表明了他的預測，即如果蘋果生產電視機，將會把訂單給郭台銘。
“他們現在在下注，即如果蘋果製造出一台電視機，他們應該比世界上其他任何人都明白應該怎麼做，”瑞信分析師湯普森·吳說。“他們打賭這麼做是可行的。”
但如今，富士康作為全球化利與弊的有力證據，正在跨出不久前似乎還難以想像的一步：公司正在考慮在蘋果業務之外求發展。
“富士康意識到，蘋果公司的光環已不像過去那樣無可匹敵，”研究公司高德納(Gartner)的分析人員王菊梅(Jamie Wang)說。“所以他們產生了擔憂，認為自己需要開拓蘋果業務以外的領域來尋求發展。”
作為蘋果、戴爾(Dell)、惠普(Hewlett-Packard)和亞馬遜(Amazon)等數家美國電子設備企業的最大代工廠，富士康面臨著 諸多問題，如勞工騷亂、員工自殺、生產事故、以及對其工作環境和用工行為的投訴。該公司一直在和其客戶企業合作，以改進工作環境、增加薪酬待遇和提高勞工 標準。在4月的一個陰雨蒙蒙的午後，300名員工聚集在富士康科技集團的台北總部，在一尊道教神祗關帝的小神像前燒香和紙錢。身為富士康董事長的郭台銘信 奉道教，他把這尊神像從中國山西空運到台北，並親手抬到他的製造業帝國門口。在中國的傳統文化中，關帝被認為是生意興隆的庇護神。
好生意正是世界最大電子代工廠之一的富士康目前所需要的。上月，富士康（亦稱鴻海精密工業）報告其第一季度收入和去年同期相比下降了19.2%，因為其主要客戶蘋果公司減少了其iPhone和iPad訂單。
蘋果公司的代表拒絕對富士康的發展動向發表評論。但據分析人士估計，蘋果公司為富士康帶來了至少40%的收入。在蘋果之外求發展可能會有難度；如今 在電視製造業領域很難賺到錢，很多日本電子公司就能證實這一點。據富士康發言人邢治平(Simon Hsing)透露，富士康生產的60英寸電視只在台灣銷售了2萬台。邢治平拒絕透露其他合作商的銷售量。
富士康的困境反映出台灣代工製造廠所面臨的一個共同難題，這些代工廠的收益都嚴重依賴其客戶企業的收益。數家製造商，如HTC和華碩 (Asustek Computer)，都設法砍掉了所有的代工業務，轉而研發自己的品牌產品。但當他們開始和客戶企業競爭時，後者也開始拋棄他們。
有兩組數據可以表明富士康的問題。據NPD DisplaySearch報告，和去年相比，液晶電視的全球需求在2012年下降了1%，而全球對所有類型的電視機的需求下降了6%。據IDC報告，和 去年同期相比，全球個人電腦出貨量在2013年的第一季度下降了13.9%。
因此，很多製造商的利潤都在減少。
“台灣公司一直依賴於代工業務和外包業務，”台灣電機電子工業同業公會副總幹事羅懷家說。“現在，我們需要着眼原創設計製造，直接滿足消費者的需求。”
富士康消費電子部門副總裁趙凱（Kay Chiu，音譯）在回答電子郵件問題時說，消費者利益和垂直整合——控制供應鏈中的所有階段——是產品轉型的幕後推手。“我們還需要利用商業發展夥伴的優 勢，來向市場提供有吸引力也最具競爭力的產品，”趙凱說。其他富士康高管拒絕了記者多次提出的置評要求。
自去年開始，富士康的投資選擇就反映了其新策略。郭台銘以個人名義斥資約8.4億美元（約合51.7億元人民幣）買下了夏普公司(Sharp)在日 本堺市的液晶平板製造廠。夏普需要快速的資金注入，而郭台銘的購買讓其公司快速控制了液晶平板的生產，該組件的生產成本佔據了電視機生產成本的50%以 上。
而後富士康於10月推出一款60英寸的電視機，據邢治平稱，其中90%的組件，包括LCD板、背光燈以及機械部件等，都為富士康自己生產。
富士康還和中國的睿俠(RadioShack)以及美國的Vizio兩家公司合作，使用其品牌出售該電視機。“我們的合作商業務下滑確實影響到了我 們，如蘋果和諾基亞[Nokia]，”邢治平說。“我們不想乾等着訂單。我們正積極和許多客戶對話，看他們能否充分利用我們的產品。”邢治平說富士康並不 准備推出自己的品牌，相反，它打算利用其合作商的營銷及分銷網絡。
“鴻海是全球最大的電子製造服務商，”富士康高管趙凱說，“我們是大品牌商家客戶的平台，擁有自己的品牌並不符合公司的策略。”
在過去六個月里，富士康已逐漸找到了其他願意與之合作的商家。富士康成功地和幾家台灣和中國的有線電視及網絡電視運營商合作，後者將為其付費用戶購 買電視進行補貼，就像一些市場移動運營商補貼智能手機那樣。比如，電視機生產商和台灣的中華電信(Chunghwa Telecom)公司合作，消費者只需花3.38萬新台幣（約合7000元人民幣），就能買到一台60英寸的電視機，前提是消費者要和中華電信簽署一份兩 年期的電視服務合同，每月向其支付1158台幣。
分析人士稱，富士康的策略能實現兩個看上去相互矛盾的目標。該公司不想與其客戶直接競爭，因為它有來自索尼(Sony)、夏普以及東芝 (Toshiba)的訂單。（富士康還為惠普、戴爾等公司組裝個人電腦，為任天堂[Nintendo]組裝遊戲機，為亞馬遜組裝Kindle。）但是，它 也需要吸收堺市工廠生產的多餘LCD板，以利用其單位生產成本較低的優勢。
“那麼在花大約8.4億美元買下一座工廠後，你應該做什麼呢？”瑞信(Credit Suisse)分析師湯普森·吳(Thompson Wu)說。“這麼說吧，我得想清楚，是低價生產電視機，賺的錢越來越少，還是徹底閑置生產，選哪個讓我的境況會更好？”
巴克萊銀行亞洲科技研究部(Barclays’ Asia Technology Research)的主管楊應超(Kirk Yang)說，“台灣公司會一直採取這種做法。”
“它們會做賠本生意，只是為了進入該行業，”他說，“隨着其銷售量的增加、規模的擴大以及經驗愈加豐富，它們最終能獲得微小利潤。”
湯普森·吳說，在回購其股權時，郭台銘曾承諾購買堺市工廠一半的產出，這進一步加大了壓力。
研究公司NPD DisplaySearch估計，堺市工廠每年能生產670萬至680萬台60英寸的平板電視。
富士康的合作商Vizio能夠幫其處理其中一些電視機，但起到的作用也比較有限。根據NPD集團零售追蹤服務(NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service)的統計，在2013年的前三個月，Vizio在美國60英寸或者更大尺寸平板電視的市場銷售中佔了30%的份額，這一比例超過其他任何一 家公司，夏普佔到29%，屈居第二。然而，據NPD DisplaySearch的分析師保羅·格雷(Paul Gray)稱，在因節假日密布而格外重要的第四季度，Vizio在北美售出了40.3萬台上述尺寸的電視機。
許多分析師表示，他們認為富士康需要一個更大的電視機消費群體。電視機占富士康業務的比例不到5%，遠低於其從蘋果那裡得到的收入。而且一些分析師認為，富士康只是等待時機，等蘋果公司製造出一台可以改變行業面貌的電視機，再度提高需求。
蘋果和富士康的代表稱他們不能對這種猜測發表評論。
分析人士稱，郭台銘購買LCD工廠，並將電視機生產垂直整合於其原有業務，這些舉動表明了他的預測，即如果蘋果生產電視機，將會把訂單給郭台銘。
“他們現在在下注，即如果蘋果製造出一台電視機，他們應該比世界上其他任何人都明白應該怎麼做，”瑞信分析師湯普森·吳說。“他們打賭這麼做是可行的。”
翻譯：陶夢縈、谷菁璐
網上購物的供應鏈鍛鍊
The findings, which are based on a survey of more than 11,000 online shoppers in 11 countries, underline the speed at which China has emerged as one of the world’s most wired retail markets.
Online shopping, nearly nonexistent in China as recently as five years ago, has emerged as a major sales channel for retailers, with combined sales of about 1.3 trillion renminbi, or $211 billion, last year, said Carrie Yu, China and Asia Pacific retail and consumer expert at PwC in Hong Kong.
“Things are happening very fast here,” Ms. Yu said. “E-tailing has become a major focus for C.E.O.’s across all segments of retailing, whether it’s electrical goods, luxury goods or even groceries.”
The explosive growth of electronic shopping in China has led to the country’s emergence as one of the world’s busiest online shopping markets, both in terms of overall sales volumes and in terms of the frequency with which consumers shop online, Ms. Yu said.
In China, 58 percent of respondents in the PwC report said they shopped online at least once a week, for example. That percentage was by far the highest of any of the countries covered in the PwC survey. By comparison, only 42 percent of U.S. respondents, 41 percent of those in Britain, and 29 percent of German respondents said they shopped online at least once a week. The percentage was lowest in France, where only 13 percent said they made online purchases once or more a week.
Chinese consumers are also significantly more likely than their counterparts in other parts of the world to use smartphones or tablets, rather than PCs, to make online purchases. More than one third of Chinese online shoppers used such devices, about double the global average, the PwC report found.
The quest for lower prices has been a main driver of online shopping around the world in recent years, especially in the half-decade since the global financial crisis, when consumers in many parts of the world became more eager to save money, Ms. Yu said.
In China, however, the growth of online shopping has been given several extra kicks.
The economy has continued to grow rapidly; wages have risen; and the country’s online population has ballooned along with better communications networks and the easy availability of online devices.
“In a nation where many other sectors are rapidly expanding, e-tailing stands out for its astonishing growth,” McKinsey wrote in a report published in March.
According to McKinsey, China was the world’s second-largest e-tailing market, after the United States, in 2011, with sales totaling $120 billion — well above the $107 billion in Japan, and more than twice those recorded in Britain, for example. By 2012, China came “very close to equaling the United States for the top spot” in terms of e-tailing volumes, McKinsey added.
2006年，曹青(Louise Tsao)在淘寶網（Taobao，中國版的eBay）上創立了自己的在線商店七格格(7Gege)，當時七格格的運作還不太像個生意。淘寶屬於總部位於杭州的阿里巴巴(Alibaba)集團旗下所有。如今杭州已經成為中國的電子商務之都。這位來自杭州的大學畢業生銷售平價的時尚服飾，但往往沉溺於自己對時尚的迷戀。她回憶道：“最初我一天會買10件衣服，但只會賣出一件。”這已成為歷史。去年七格格實現收入3.5億元人民幣，曹青預計今年銷售額將增至6億元人民幣。這位現年30歲的女子是阿里巴巴對中國經濟產生重大影響的典型例子。創立在線零售業務僅10年後，阿里巴巴表示，消費者對消費者(C2C)平台淘寶網和企業對消費者(B2C)平台天貓(TMall)的商品價值合計超過1萬億元人民幣（合1630億美元），兩個網站上的商品超過8萬億種。阿里巴巴和杭州市政府官員表示，這種增長創造了數百萬個在線商店和相關服務行業的就業機會。中國電子商務研究中心(Chinese Ecommerce Research Centre)估計，僅在去年一年，中國電子商務行業直接創造的就業機會超過200萬個，間接創造的就業機會超過1200萬個。淘寶佔中國在線C2C零售交易額的90%，而天貓佔據中國在線B2C市場的半壁江山，因此這種就業機會的創造主要歸功於阿里巴巴。除了就業以外，阿里巴巴還對中國宏觀經濟產生影響。麥肯錫(McKinsey)旗下研究機構麥肯錫全球研究所(McKinsey Global Institute)今年早些時候在一份部分基於淘寶數據的報告中指出，中國消費者在在線商店的消費支出比在傳統實體商店多出40%左右。分析師表示，在線零售貢獻了大約2%的中國私人消費增長，到2020年這一數字將最高增至7%。
問題: 1.Google vs Amazon的當天送達.
2. 中國的快遞故事
3. 阿里巴巴與台灣
4. 工業電腦廠商研華有機會嗎?
5. 神通集團.
*****
Global Retailers Join Safety Plan for Bangladesh
Steven Greenhouse自紐約、Jim Yardley自新德里報道。Julfikar Ali Manik自孟加拉國達卡對本文有報道貢獻。
翻譯：林蒙克、許欣
Foxconn Tries to Move Past the iPhone
By LIN YANG May 08, 2013
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Terry Gou did almost everything that Apple
could ask for. He made all those iPhones — and he made them cheap. When
Apple was subsequently criticized for low wages and poor working
conditions at his factories in China, it was Mr. Gou’s company, the Foxconn Technology Group, and not Apple, that caught the most heat.
But now Foxconn, a potent symbol of the perks and perils of globalization, is taking a step that, not all that long ago, would have seemed unthinkable: it is contemplating life far, far beyond Apple.
Foxconn, which is based here but does most of its manufacturing in
mainland China, wants to reduce its reliance on Apple. Its new strategy
is a shift away from making products that other companies design, and
toward developing products of its own, with an especially aggressive
push into designing and manufacturing large, flat-screen televisions.
“Foxconn senses that the Apple aura isn’t as invincible as before,” said Jamie Wang, an analyst at the research firm Gartner. “So they are worried that they need something besides Apple’s business that will allow them to grow.”
As the biggest contract manufacturer for American electronics companies like Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Amazon, Foxconn has been faced with labor unrest, worker suicides, industrial accidents and complaints about working conditions and labor practices. It has been working with many of its client companies to improve conditions, raise pay and improve labor standards. On a drizzly April afternoon at the headquarters of Foxconn Technology here, 300 employees gathered to burn incense and fake money in front of a statuette of Lord Guan, a Taoist deity. Mr. Gou, the chairman of Foxconn and a Taoist, had the statuette flown in from Shanxi Province in mainland China, carrying it himself to the door of his manufacturing empire. In Chinese tradition, Lord Guan is considered the go-to god for good business.
Good business is something Foxconn, one of the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturers, needs right now. Last month, Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, reported that first-quarter revenue was dragged down 19.2 percent compared with the same period last year because of declining iPhone and iPad orders from its main customer, Apple.
Apple representatives declined to comment on the developments at Foxconn. But analysts estimate that Apple contributes at least 40 percent of Foxconn’s revenue. Moving beyond Apple could prove tricky; it is hard to make money in televisions these days, as many of the Japanese electronics companies can attest. And only 20,000 of Foxconn’s 60-inch TVs have been sold in Taiwan, according to Simon Hsing, Foxconn’s spokesman, who declined to disclose sales volumes from any other partners.
Foxconn’s predicament mirrors a common problem faced by Taiwanese contract manufacturers, whose fortunes depend heavily on those of their clients. A handful of manufacturers, like HTC and Asustek Computer, have managed to shed their contract manufacturing businesses altogether to develop branded products. But as they began competing with clients, those clients began deserting them.
Here is Foxconn’s problem captured with two sets of statistics. Global demand for LCD televisions declined 1 percent in 2012 compared with the previous year, and demand for all TVs dropped 6 percent, according to NPD DisplaySearch. Worldwide PC shipments fell 13.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to IDC.
As a result, profits for many manufacturers are slumping.
“Taiwan companies have always relied on being a contract manufacturer and outsourcing manufacturer,” said Luo Huai-jia, vice president at the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association. “Now we need to start looking at original design manufacturing and directly matching the needs of consumers.”
Kay Chiu, vice president of Foxconn’s consumer electronics division, said in response to e-mailed questions that consumer interest and vertical integration — controlling all the steps in the supply chain — were behind the shift in production. “We still need to leverage business development partners’ advantage to provide an attractive and most competitive product to the market,” Mr. Chiu said. Other top Foxconn executives declined several requests for comment.
Since last year, Foxconn’s investment choices have reflected its new strategy. Mr. Gou personally spent about $840 million on a 37.6 percent stake in Sharp’s LCD panel factory in Sakai, Japan. Sharp needed a quick cash infusion and Mr. Gou’s purchase gave his company a quick way to control a component that accounts for more than 50 percent of the production cost of a TV set.
Foxconn then released a 60-inch television in October with 90 percent of the components, like the LCD panel, backlighting and mechanical parts, made in-house, according to Mr. Hsing.
The company also recruited two companies, RadioShack in China and Vizio in the United States, to sell the television under their brands. “The decline in the business of our partners, such as Apple and Nokia, does affect us,” Mr. Hsing said. “We don’t want to just wait for orders. We are actively talking with many clients and asking if they can fully utilize what we make.” He said that the company had no intention of becoming its own brand and instead planned to use its partners’ marketing and distribution networks.
“Hon Hai is the largest electronic manufacturing service company in the world,” said Mr. Chiu, the Foxconn executive. “We are the platform for all the brand-name customers, and to have our own brand does not suit the company policy.”
Over the last six months, Foxconn has gradually found other willing partners. It has recruited several cable and Internet TV operators in Taiwan and China to subsidize the cost of the television for their subscribers in the same way that smartphones are subsidized by mobile operators in some markets. With Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, for instance, a consumer can buy a 60-inch television for as little as 33,800 Taiwan dollars, or about $1,150, as long as the customer also pays 1,158 Taiwan dollars a month for a two-year television service contract.
Analysts say Foxconn’s strategy satisfies two seemingly contradictory goals. The company does not want to compete with clients directly, because it has TV assembly orders from Sony, Sharp and Toshiba. (The company also assembles personal computers for companies like Hewlett-Packard and Dell, game consoles for Nintendo and the Kindle for Amazon.com.) But it needs to absorb excess LCD panels produced by the Sakai factory to take advantage of the lower manufacturing cost per unit. Therefore, Foxconn negotiates with partners to sell the television at or below its production cost.
“So what do you do in the meantime after spending about $840 million buying a plant?” said Thompson Wu, an analyst at Credit Suisse. “You just say, I have to decide whether I’m better off making TVs at a discount and make less money incrementally or having manufacturing not doing anything.”
Kirk Yang, managing director of Barclays’ Asia Technology Research, said, “Taiwanese companies will do this all the time.”
“They will sell at loss just to get their foot in the door,” he said. “With larger volume, better scale and more experience, they eventually make a small profit.”
Adding to that pressure is a commitment Mr. Gou made to buy half the Sakai plant’s output when he purchased his stake, Mr. Wu said.
The research firm NPD DisplaySearch estimates Sakai makes 6.7 million to 6.8 million 60-inch panels a year.
Its partner Vizio could help move some of those televisions, but only somewhat. In the first three months of 2013, Vizio sold 30 percent of flat-panel televisions measuring 60 inches or more in the United States, more than any other company, with Sharp in second place with 29 percent, according to NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service. Yet in the important holiday-filled fourth quarter, it shipped 403,000 sets in that size in North America, according to an NPD DisplaySearch analyst, Paul Gray.
Most analysts say they believe Foxconn needs a larger TV customer. Televisions represent less than 5 percent of Foxconn’s business, far less than its revenue from Apple. And some analysts think Foxconn is just biding its time, waiting for Apple to figure how to create a game-changing television product that will increase demand once again.
Representatives of Apple and Foxconn said they did not comment on speculation.
Analysts say Mr. Gou’s efforts to buy an LCD factory and vertically integrate his television manufacturing represent anticipation that orders for an Apple television product will come his way.
“Their gamble now is if Apple will put out a TV, and they should know better than anyone else in the world,” said Mr. Wu, the Credit Suisse analyst. “They’re making a bet that it’ll work.”
But now Foxconn, a potent symbol of the perks and perils of globalization, is taking a step that, not all that long ago, would have seemed unthinkable: it is contemplating life far, far beyond Apple.
按图放大
Ashley Pon for The International Herald Tribune
A Foxconn television at a Chunghwa Telecom store.
“Foxconn senses that the Apple aura isn’t as invincible as before,” said Jamie Wang, an analyst at the research firm Gartner. “So they are worried that they need something besides Apple’s business that will allow them to grow.”
As the biggest contract manufacturer for American electronics companies like Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Amazon, Foxconn has been faced with labor unrest, worker suicides, industrial accidents and complaints about working conditions and labor practices. It has been working with many of its client companies to improve conditions, raise pay and improve labor standards. On a drizzly April afternoon at the headquarters of Foxconn Technology here, 300 employees gathered to burn incense and fake money in front of a statuette of Lord Guan, a Taoist deity. Mr. Gou, the chairman of Foxconn and a Taoist, had the statuette flown in from Shanxi Province in mainland China, carrying it himself to the door of his manufacturing empire. In Chinese tradition, Lord Guan is considered the go-to god for good business.
Good business is something Foxconn, one of the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturers, needs right now. Last month, Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, reported that first-quarter revenue was dragged down 19.2 percent compared with the same period last year because of declining iPhone and iPad orders from its main customer, Apple.
Apple representatives declined to comment on the developments at Foxconn. But analysts estimate that Apple contributes at least 40 percent of Foxconn’s revenue. Moving beyond Apple could prove tricky; it is hard to make money in televisions these days, as many of the Japanese electronics companies can attest. And only 20,000 of Foxconn’s 60-inch TVs have been sold in Taiwan, according to Simon Hsing, Foxconn’s spokesman, who declined to disclose sales volumes from any other partners.
Foxconn’s predicament mirrors a common problem faced by Taiwanese contract manufacturers, whose fortunes depend heavily on those of their clients. A handful of manufacturers, like HTC and Asustek Computer, have managed to shed their contract manufacturing businesses altogether to develop branded products. But as they began competing with clients, those clients began deserting them.
Here is Foxconn’s problem captured with two sets of statistics. Global demand for LCD televisions declined 1 percent in 2012 compared with the previous year, and demand for all TVs dropped 6 percent, according to NPD DisplaySearch. Worldwide PC shipments fell 13.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to IDC.
As a result, profits for many manufacturers are slumping.
“Taiwan companies have always relied on being a contract manufacturer and outsourcing manufacturer,” said Luo Huai-jia, vice president at the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association. “Now we need to start looking at original design manufacturing and directly matching the needs of consumers.”
Kay Chiu, vice president of Foxconn’s consumer electronics division, said in response to e-mailed questions that consumer interest and vertical integration — controlling all the steps in the supply chain — were behind the shift in production. “We still need to leverage business development partners’ advantage to provide an attractive and most competitive product to the market,” Mr. Chiu said. Other top Foxconn executives declined several requests for comment.
Since last year, Foxconn’s investment choices have reflected its new strategy. Mr. Gou personally spent about $840 million on a 37.6 percent stake in Sharp’s LCD panel factory in Sakai, Japan. Sharp needed a quick cash infusion and Mr. Gou’s purchase gave his company a quick way to control a component that accounts for more than 50 percent of the production cost of a TV set.
Foxconn then released a 60-inch television in October with 90 percent of the components, like the LCD panel, backlighting and mechanical parts, made in-house, according to Mr. Hsing.
The company also recruited two companies, RadioShack in China and Vizio in the United States, to sell the television under their brands. “The decline in the business of our partners, such as Apple and Nokia, does affect us,” Mr. Hsing said. “We don’t want to just wait for orders. We are actively talking with many clients and asking if they can fully utilize what we make.” He said that the company had no intention of becoming its own brand and instead planned to use its partners’ marketing and distribution networks.
“Hon Hai is the largest electronic manufacturing service company in the world,” said Mr. Chiu, the Foxconn executive. “We are the platform for all the brand-name customers, and to have our own brand does not suit the company policy.”
Over the last six months, Foxconn has gradually found other willing partners. It has recruited several cable and Internet TV operators in Taiwan and China to subsidize the cost of the television for their subscribers in the same way that smartphones are subsidized by mobile operators in some markets. With Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, for instance, a consumer can buy a 60-inch television for as little as 33,800 Taiwan dollars, or about $1,150, as long as the customer also pays 1,158 Taiwan dollars a month for a two-year television service contract.
Analysts say Foxconn’s strategy satisfies two seemingly contradictory goals. The company does not want to compete with clients directly, because it has TV assembly orders from Sony, Sharp and Toshiba. (The company also assembles personal computers for companies like Hewlett-Packard and Dell, game consoles for Nintendo and the Kindle for Amazon.com.) But it needs to absorb excess LCD panels produced by the Sakai factory to take advantage of the lower manufacturing cost per unit. Therefore, Foxconn negotiates with partners to sell the television at or below its production cost.
“So what do you do in the meantime after spending about $840 million buying a plant?” said Thompson Wu, an analyst at Credit Suisse. “You just say, I have to decide whether I’m better off making TVs at a discount and make less money incrementally or having manufacturing not doing anything.”
Kirk Yang, managing director of Barclays’ Asia Technology Research, said, “Taiwanese companies will do this all the time.”
“They will sell at loss just to get their foot in the door,” he said. “With larger volume, better scale and more experience, they eventually make a small profit.”
Adding to that pressure is a commitment Mr. Gou made to buy half the Sakai plant’s output when he purchased his stake, Mr. Wu said.
The research firm NPD DisplaySearch estimates Sakai makes 6.7 million to 6.8 million 60-inch panels a year.
Its partner Vizio could help move some of those televisions, but only somewhat. In the first three months of 2013, Vizio sold 30 percent of flat-panel televisions measuring 60 inches or more in the United States, more than any other company, with Sharp in second place with 29 percent, according to NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service. Yet in the important holiday-filled fourth quarter, it shipped 403,000 sets in that size in North America, according to an NPD DisplaySearch analyst, Paul Gray.
Most analysts say they believe Foxconn needs a larger TV customer. Televisions represent less than 5 percent of Foxconn’s business, far less than its revenue from Apple. And some analysts think Foxconn is just biding its time, waiting for Apple to figure how to create a game-changing television product that will increase demand once again.
Representatives of Apple and Foxconn said they did not comment on speculation.
Analysts say Mr. Gou’s efforts to buy an LCD factory and vertically integrate his television manufacturing represent anticipation that orders for an Apple television product will come his way.
“Their gamble now is if Apple will put out a TV, and they should know better than anyone else in the world,” said Mr. Wu, the Credit Suisse analyst. “They’re making a bet that it’ll work.”
網上購物的供應鏈鍛鍊
網上購物在中國爆炸式增長
BETTINA WASSENER 報道 2013年05月08日
香港——周二，諮詢公司普華永道(PwC)發佈報告稱，與世界其他地區的消費者相比，中國消費者使用智能手機及平板電腦等設備進行網購的頻率更高。
該報告基於一項對11個國家逾1.1萬名網購者的調查，突顯了中國成為全球網絡化程度最高的零售市場之一的速度。
普華永道駐香港的中國及亞太地區零售及消費者研究專家余葉嘉莉(Carrie Yu)稱，短短五年之前，中國還幾乎沒有網購，到現在，網購卻成了中國零售商的一條主要銷售渠道，去年的總銷售額約為1.3萬億人民幣，合2110億美元。
余葉嘉莉稱，“在這裡，事情發展得很快。電子零售變成了零售業各領域首席執行官的主要關注點，不論他們賣的是電子產品還是奢侈品，連雜貨也不例外。”
余葉嘉莉稱，中國電子購物的爆炸式增長，已經使中國成為全球最繁忙的網購市場之一，從總銷量和消費者的網購頻率來說都是如此。
例如，根據普華永道的報告，58%的中國受訪者稱自己每周至少網購一次。這個百分比高於曾參與普華永道調查的其他任何國家。相比之下，僅有42%的 美國受訪者、41%的英國受訪者及29%的德國受訪者表示自己每周至少網購一次。法國的比例最低，僅13%的受訪者稱每周網購不少於一次。
中國消費者使用智能手機和平板電腦，而非桌面電腦來進行網購的幾率也比世界其他地區的消費者高得多。普華永道的報告發現，超過三分之一的中國網購人群使用此類移動設備，約為全球平均比例的兩倍。
余葉嘉莉稱，對低價的追求是近年全球網購的主要驅動力，尤其是全球金融危機爆發以來的這五六年，這些年裡，許多地方的消費者都比以前更急於省錢。
不過，中國的網購增長還有一些額外的推動力。
額外推動力包括經濟持續高速增長、工資上漲以及網民人數的飆升，後者是中國通訊網絡改進和上網設備易於獲取的結果。
麥肯錫(McKinsey)在今年3月發佈的一份報告中寫道，“中國的許多其他部門都在快速擴張，但電子零售仍憑藉令人驚訝的增長獨領風騷。”
文中稱，舉例來說，2011年，中國是僅次於美國的世界第二大電子零售市場，總銷售額達1200億美元，遠高於日本的1070億美元，更比英國的數據高出一倍多。麥肯錫還稱，按照電子零售額計算，2012年，中國已經“非常接近於和美國並列第一的狀態”。
該報告基於一項對11個國家逾1.1萬名網購者的調查，突顯了中國成為全球網絡化程度最高的零售市場之一的速度。
相關文章
余葉嘉莉稱，“在這裡，事情發展得很快。電子零售變成了零售業各領域首席執行官的主要關注點，不論他們賣的是電子產品還是奢侈品，連雜貨也不例外。”
余葉嘉莉稱，中國電子購物的爆炸式增長，已經使中國成為全球最繁忙的網購市場之一，從總銷量和消費者的網購頻率來說都是如此。
例如，根據普華永道的報告，58%的中國受訪者稱自己每周至少網購一次。這個百分比高於曾參與普華永道調查的其他任何國家。相比之下，僅有42%的 美國受訪者、41%的英國受訪者及29%的德國受訪者表示自己每周至少網購一次。法國的比例最低，僅13%的受訪者稱每周網購不少於一次。
中國消費者使用智能手機和平板電腦，而非桌面電腦來進行網購的幾率也比世界其他地區的消費者高得多。普華永道的報告發現，超過三分之一的中國網購人群使用此類移動設備，約為全球平均比例的兩倍。
余葉嘉莉稱，對低價的追求是近年全球網購的主要驅動力，尤其是全球金融危機爆發以來的這五六年，這些年裡，許多地方的消費者都比以前更急於省錢。
不過，中國的網購增長還有一些額外的推動力。
額外推動力包括經濟持續高速增長、工資上漲以及網民人數的飆升，後者是中國通訊網絡改進和上網設備易於獲取的結果。
麥肯錫(McKinsey)在今年3月發佈的一份報告中寫道，“中國的許多其他部門都在快速擴張，但電子零售仍憑藉令人驚訝的增長獨領風騷。”
文中稱，舉例來說，2011年，中國是僅次於美國的世界第二大電子零售市場，總銷售額達1200億美元，遠高於日本的1070億美元，更比英國的數據高出一倍多。麥肯錫還稱，按照電子零售額計算，2012年，中國已經“非常接近於和美國並列第一的狀態”。
E-Commerce Soars in China
By BETTINA WASSENER May 08, 2013
HONG KONG — Chinese consumers shop online, using gadgets like smartphones and tablets, more frequently than their counterparts elsewhere, according to a report released Tuesday by the consulting firm PwC.The findings, which are based on a survey of more than 11,000 online shoppers in 11 countries, underline the speed at which China has emerged as one of the world’s most wired retail markets.
Online shopping, nearly nonexistent in China as recently as five years ago, has emerged as a major sales channel for retailers, with combined sales of about 1.3 trillion renminbi, or $211 billion, last year, said Carrie Yu, China and Asia Pacific retail and consumer expert at PwC in Hong Kong.
“Things are happening very fast here,” Ms. Yu said. “E-tailing has become a major focus for C.E.O.’s across all segments of retailing, whether it’s electrical goods, luxury goods or even groceries.”
The explosive growth of electronic shopping in China has led to the country’s emergence as one of the world’s busiest online shopping markets, both in terms of overall sales volumes and in terms of the frequency with which consumers shop online, Ms. Yu said.
In China, 58 percent of respondents in the PwC report said they shopped online at least once a week, for example. That percentage was by far the highest of any of the countries covered in the PwC survey. By comparison, only 42 percent of U.S. respondents, 41 percent of those in Britain, and 29 percent of German respondents said they shopped online at least once a week. The percentage was lowest in France, where only 13 percent said they made online purchases once or more a week.
Chinese consumers are also significantly more likely than their counterparts in other parts of the world to use smartphones or tablets, rather than PCs, to make online purchases. More than one third of Chinese online shoppers used such devices, about double the global average, the PwC report found.
The quest for lower prices has been a main driver of online shopping around the world in recent years, especially in the half-decade since the global financial crisis, when consumers in many parts of the world became more eager to save money, Ms. Yu said.
In China, however, the growth of online shopping has been given several extra kicks.
The economy has continued to grow rapidly; wages have risen; and the country’s online population has ballooned along with better communications networks and the easy availability of online devices.
“In a nation where many other sectors are rapidly expanding, e-tailing stands out for its astonishing growth,” McKinsey wrote in a report published in March.
According to McKinsey, China was the world’s second-largest e-tailing market, after the United States, in 2011, with sales totaling $120 billion — well above the $107 billion in Japan, and more than twice those recorded in Britain, for example. By 2012, China came “very close to equaling the United States for the top spot” in terms of e-tailing volumes, McKinsey added.
2006年，曹青(Louise Tsao)在淘寶網（Taobao，中國版的eBay）上創立了自己的在線商店七格格(7Gege)，當時七格格的運作還不太像個生意。淘寶屬於總部位於杭州的阿里巴巴(Alibaba)集團旗下所有。如今杭州已經成為中國的電子商務之都。這位來自杭州的大學畢業生銷售平價的時尚服飾，但往往沉溺於自己對時尚的迷戀。她回憶道：“最初我一天會買10件衣服，但只會賣出一件。”這已成為歷史。去年七格格實現收入3.5億元人民幣，曹青預計今年銷售額將增至6億元人民幣。這位現年30歲的女子是阿里巴巴對中國經濟產生重大影響的典型例子。創立在線零售業務僅10年後，阿里巴巴表示，消費者對消費者(C2C)平台淘寶網和企業對消費者(B2C)平台天貓(TMall)的商品價值合計超過1萬億元人民幣（合1630億美元），兩個網站上的商品超過8萬億種。阿里巴巴和杭州市政府官員表示，這種增長創造了數百萬個在線商店和相關服務行業的就業機會。中國電子商務研究中心(Chinese Ecommerce Research Centre)估計，僅在去年一年，中國電子商務行業直接創造的就業機會超過200萬個，間接創造的就業機會超過1200萬個。淘寶佔中國在線C2C零售交易額的90%，而天貓佔據中國在線B2C市場的半壁江山，因此這種就業機會的創造主要歸功於阿里巴巴。除了就業以外，阿里巴巴還對中國宏觀經濟產生影響。麥肯錫(McKinsey)旗下研究機構麥肯錫全球研究所(McKinsey Global Institute)今年早些時候在一份部分基於淘寶數據的報告中指出，中國消費者在在線商店的消費支出比在傳統實體商店多出40%左右。分析師表示，在線零售貢獻了大約2%的中國私人消費增長，到2020年這一數字將最高增至7%。
問題: 1.Google vs Amazon的當天送達.
2. 中國的快遞故事
3. 阿里巴巴與台灣
4. 工業電腦廠商研華有機會嗎?
5. 神通集團.
*****
Noah Berger for The New York Times
Retailers See Risk in Factory Safety Plans
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
The plan to assure safe factories in Bangladesh could put American
retailers at risk for litigation, some specialists say. Above, a protest
outside Gap’s headquarters.
Report on Deadly Factory Collapse Spreads BlameGlobal Retailers Join Safety Plan for Bangladesh
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and JIM YARDLEY
Under mounting pressure, several companies agreed to a landmark plan
to help pay for safety improvements in Bangladesh's garment factories.
Firms Line Up on Factories as Walmart Plans a Solo Effort
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Walmart said its monitors would “conduct in-depth safety inspections at
100 percent”of the factories it uses in Bangladesh after six European
firms signed on to a separate safety plan.
H&M等制衣商簽孟加拉安全協議
2013年05月14日
A.M. Ahad/Associated Press
救援人員在4月24日坍塌的工廠建築物現場，目前廢墟清理和搜救工作已基本完成。死亡人數已多達1127人。
上個月，孟加拉國名為拉納廣場(Rana Plaza)工廠區發生坍塌，致使超過1100人死亡。之後，幾家全球最大的成衣公司，受到了改善該國制衣廠工作條件的巨大壓力。周一，這些公司就一項里程碑式的計劃達成了共識，他們將會出資增強消防安全，改善工廠環境。
勞工和消費者團體稱讚該協議是一項重大突破。與此同時，孟加拉國政府也針對4月24日發生在首都達卡郊外的拉納廣場的慘劇，採取了應對措施。在最近兩天時間裡，政府承諾提高制衣廠工人薪資、修改勞動法規、簡化成立工會要求。
國際品牌和孟加拉國政府同時公布的措施，標誌着一個重大轉
變。多年來，孟加拉國見證了全球制衣產業中一些最惡劣的用工行為。其工資水平為世界最低，起薪大約為每月37美元（約合227元人民幣），工廠的條件通常
不安全。可是國際品牌往往會努力推卸有關這些問題的直接責任，而政府通常並不熱心保護工人的權利。
但拉納廣場事件是制衣業歷史上死亡人數最多的事故，產生了
巨大的要求變革的壓力。瑞典零售業巨頭H&M和廣受歡迎的Zara連鎖店的所屬公司Inditex，在周一上午簽署支持安全計劃。幾個小時內，荷
蘭零售商C&A也簽署協議，英國廉價零售商店Primark和樂購(Tesco)也加入其中。
「對於我們來說，消防安全和建築安全是極其重要的問題，我
們在該領域投入了很多努力與資源，」H&M可持續發展部門負責人海倫娜·赫耳墨松(Helena
Helmersson)說。「有了這項承諾，我們現在可以在這個問題上產生更大的影響。我們希望大家簽署協議，組成廣泛的聯盟，從而保證該協議能夠在當地
有效地發揮作用。」
H&M是孟加拉國最大的服裝購買商，人們認為該公司簽署協議對其他品牌產生了影響。該協議要求在西方零售商的資助下，對工廠安全進行獨立、嚴格的檢查，面對公眾問責，進行強制性維修和翻新。協議還提升了工人及工會的作用，以便確保工廠安全。
「H&M簽署協議的決定是至關重要的，」工人權利
共同體(Worker Rights Consortium)執行總監斯科特·諾瓦(Scott
Nova)說。「H&M甚至超越了沃爾瑪(Walmart)，是孟加拉國最大的成衣生產商。該協議現在有了很強的動力。」這家總部設在華盛頓的工
廠監督團體，受到美國175所學院和大學的支持。
勞工團體和其他組織已經在嘗試向包括沃爾瑪和蓋璞
(Gap)在內的其他品牌施壓，要求他們簽署該協議。「過去6個月，孟加拉國發生了多起工廠事故，包括拉納廣場事故，那裡正在上演悲劇。我們代表在事故中喪生的逾1250名紡織工人，呼籲這些公司做出正確的事，」國際網絡工會(UNI Global Union)秘書長菲利普·J·詹寧斯(Philip
J. Jennings)說。「這是一個非黑即白，事關生死的問題。」
有超過90萬人在網上請願，要求蓋璞簽署該協議。但該公司不願接受這項協議的法律約束力，因而拒絕簽署協議，並表示該公司已經僱傭了一名消防檢查者，還承諾提供2200萬美元貸款改善工廠環境。
卡文克萊(Calvin
Klein)、湯美費格(Tommy
Hilfiger)和艾索德(Izod)的母公司菲力士泛優遜(PVH)宣布將簽署該項協議。PVH此前已經簽署了這項提議擴展前的版本。新計劃將持續五
年，而上一份計劃僅持續兩年時間。周一，PVH還宣布，作為新計劃的一部分，將提供250萬美元，作為工廠安全改進的開銷。
同時，孟加拉國內閣在周一批准了對勞動法的修改，但修改還需要經過議會通過。孟加拉國總理的高級顧問高和·里茲維(Gowher Rizvi)表示，法規修改是政府逐步遵守國際勞工標準，提高工作條件的努力的一部分。
里茲維在電話採訪中表示，「工人安全和工人福利現在已經被提到首要的位置。」他說，對於這些修改的探討在拉納廣場(Rana Plaza)坍塌前就開始了，但他同意這場災難加強了對於改革的壓力。
他形容制衣業對孟加拉國的重要性說，「這是只下金蛋的鵝，不應殺鵝取卵。我們必須讓它發展壯大，必須扶持它。這就意味着要公平地對待工人。」
孟加拉國現在是世界第二大服裝出口國，僅次於中國。該國的低工資和監管缺失，幫助該國吸引了來自西方零售商和服裝品牌數十億美元訂單。這裡不僅工資是全世界最低的，而工會也因為在組建中遇到了障礙，而難以在服裝工廠中出現。一些試圖組建工會的工人遭到了解僱或受到了騷擾。
孟加拉國勞工部長米凱爾·施帕(Mikail
Shipar)稱，周一內閣還取消了一項苛刻的限制。根據現行規定，組織者必須向政府出具一份名單，以顯示一家工廠內至少有30%的工人想要組建工會。但
這份名單最後將被轉交給工廠主，來驗證這些姓名的真實性。這一步驟被一些工廠主用來從事工會破壞活動，並解僱工會支持者。
這份名單將不會再轉交給工廠主，施帕說，去除了「在一家工廠中登記工會的重要障礙。」
其他修改涉及員工福利，將為工齡較長的工人提高遣散費和退休金；福利基金中的年金將會被平均化，這樣每一名服裝工人都將獲得相同的金額，不論其所在的工廠規模有多大。
孟加拉國有大約5000家服裝廠，僱傭了超過450萬人，
近80%是女性，其中許多來自農村，沒有受過良好教育。在過去，即便是工廠的低工資，也比下地幹活收入高。但隨着過去兩年里通貨膨脹加劇，制衣工人對於低
工資越來越憤慨。周日，至少有100家服裝工廠被迫關閉，因為工人們舉行示威活動，要求提高工資。
到周一下午，拉納廣場慘劇的死亡人數已經到達1127人。工作人員已經基本完成了廢墟清理和受害者搜尋，然而失蹤工人的家人，仍在那裡徘徊。
翻譯：林蒙克、許欣
觀點
抵制購買幫不了孟加拉制衣工人
法茲勒·哈桑·阿比德 2013年05月04日
我的國家孟加拉再度流淚。上周，在首都達卡郊外的薩瓦爾，一棟建築質量低劣的大樓倒塌，內有制衣工廠等企業。已有超過300人被確認死亡，而最終的死亡人數很有可能超過700人。
對孟加拉國來說，災難並不陌生，不論是自然的還是人為的。但這次災難依然是孟加拉國1971年贏得獨立以來最悲傷的章節之一，這是因為它其實是可以 輕易避免的。建築結構上的漏洞早就被發現了，但卻沒有進行整修。而受害者卻是我們社會中最脆弱的人群，他們辛勤工作，收入卻極其微薄。很多人死的時候正在 為一些西方品牌製作服裝。
當一些西方人發現，他們身上的衣服是在危險的工作環境中，由總是長時間勞作的人們縫出，他們也許會感到不安，我對此表示理解。很自然，較富裕國家的人們如今正在發問，他們如何能向孟加拉國及它的製造商們施壓，來改善這個國家糟糕的安全記錄。
但像一些人建議的那樣，停止購買孟加拉國製造的商品，則不能算是一種有同情心的行動。由制衣業帶來的經濟機遇在這個國家實現社會變革方面發揮了重要 作用，如今有約300萬婦女在制衣行業工作。在我的生命里，我一直致力於解決根深蒂固的貧困問題，我知道，抵制在孟加拉國進行商業活動的品牌可能只會讓那 些最需要解決溫飽問題的人們更加貧困，因為這些國外品牌只會將生產合同交給其他國家。
在孟加拉國，加工業的興起有其好的方面。舉例說，在過去，貧困家庭對一個新生女嬰的未來設想通常是儘早把她嫁出去，因為付給丈夫家庭的嫁妝會隨着妻 子年齡的增長而增加。儘管1980年法律禁止了收送嫁妝的行為，但這種習俗仍在繼續。女孩兒通常會早在13歲就出嫁，永遠都不會離開她的村子，她永遠都不 會知道，她或者她的孩子本可以擁有一個更美好的未來。
從某種程度上來說，正因為許多婦女和她們的女兒如今在制衣行業找到了工作，即便是在一些沒有任何勞工權利保障的工廠，貧困家庭已經改變了他們對未來的設想。更多家庭有了長遠的目標，如讓他們的子女接受教育，存錢、取得小額貸款來做生意，建造、維護更衛生的生活空間。
許多外人在聽到孟加拉一詞時只會想到災難：工廠大火、颶風、洪水和貧窮。但真實的孟加拉國也誕生了小額信貸以及生機勃勃的公民社會。在生活標準方 面，我們也看到了迅速的進步：產婦死亡率是1990年時的四分之一、幼兒死亡率是1980年時的五分之一，並且我們已經消除了中小學入學人數上的性別差 距。
可如果我們允許薩瓦爾這樣的悲劇繼續出現，這些可喜的進步也就沒有太大意義了。法律必須為所有人服務，不論他們富裕還是貧窮，是無地的工人還是工廠主。我們不能允許那些從剝削窮苦者中獲利的人繼續如此輕視生命。
那麼，這個問題該如何解決？孟加拉國自身必須首先做出改變。這個國家也需要有關方面展示出新的政治意願，要讓那些置人命於如此巨大的危險之中的人承擔責任。這還需要工廠主、包括我的組織在內的公民社會組織，以及西方買家在內的私營部門提供支持。
解決方案應該從工人身上着手；僱主必須允許他們成立工會，這樣他們就能進行集體協商，並要求僱主對基本的報酬和安全標準負起責任。只有他們組織起來的力量才能對抗企業主和政客那種不負責任的聯合體，因為這兩者往往沆瀣一氣、難分彼此。
西方買家不應該在價格上壓榨工廠主，而應該提供資金來創造更好的安全標準。海外市場應該明白這一點，改善安全條件的代價並不很高，因而不能成為提高 銷售價格的理由。對工人惡劣的工作條件感到震驚的消費者也應當認識到，當工人的生命安全沒有保障時，把價格標籤作為唯一購買標準的市場絕對不是一個公平的 競爭環境。
同時，工廠主也不能逃脫責任，因為過失犯罪是不可原諒的。但是，我們也無法信任他們會主動採取所有那些他們可能實施的措施。在這個國家，首都與周邊 地區共有10萬家工廠，其服裝行業共有300萬名工人，而監察人員卻只有18人，這只會誘導不講道德的僱主犯下一些昧良心的錯誤。所以，我們必須大幅增加 監察隊伍的規模，而他們也應該嚴格執行安全標準。
最後，即便政府加強了執行力度，它必須停止忽視工人的安全問題。然而，只要僱主和政客還在相互勾結，共謀如何逃避過失犯罪的責任，這一點就會極其難 以完成。說到底，這才是把數千名工人困在薩瓦爾脆弱不堪並最終倒塌的廠房裡的原因。如果這些問題得不到解決，我們就不能忘記這些工人。
“孟加拉國製造”(Made in Bangladesh)應該是一個自豪的標誌，而不是恥辱的標誌。孟加拉國的公民社會已經做好了與官方一起完成這一目標的準備。20世紀70年代，在這個 國家建國初期，孟加拉國充滿了爭取獨立的力量，這是一種脫離剝削的渴望。這種力量催生了小額信貸、社區衛生工作和其他一些社會創新措施，這些舉措與紡織業 等出口行業帶來的新經濟機遇相結合，改變了數千萬窮人，尤其是女性的生活。
今天，我和我的同胞一起沉痛哀悼，但是我也要大聲呼籲，這種情況決不能繼續下去。在哀悼逝去生命的同時，讓我們重燃那種解放精神。
對孟加拉國來說，災難並不陌生，不論是自然的還是人為的。但這次災難依然是孟加拉國1971年贏得獨立以來最悲傷的章節之一，這是因為它其實是可以 輕易避免的。建築結構上的漏洞早就被發現了，但卻沒有進行整修。而受害者卻是我們社會中最脆弱的人群，他們辛勤工作，收入卻極其微薄。很多人死的時候正在 為一些西方品牌製作服裝。
當一些西方人發現，他們身上的衣服是在危險的工作環境中，由總是長時間勞作的人們縫出，他們也許會感到不安，我對此表示理解。很自然，較富裕國家的人們如今正在發問，他們如何能向孟加拉國及它的製造商們施壓，來改善這個國家糟糕的安全記錄。
但像一些人建議的那樣，停止購買孟加拉國製造的商品，則不能算是一種有同情心的行動。由制衣業帶來的經濟機遇在這個國家實現社會變革方面發揮了重要 作用，如今有約300萬婦女在制衣行業工作。在我的生命里，我一直致力於解決根深蒂固的貧困問題，我知道，抵制在孟加拉國進行商業活動的品牌可能只會讓那 些最需要解決溫飽問題的人們更加貧困，因為這些國外品牌只會將生產合同交給其他國家。
在孟加拉國，加工業的興起有其好的方面。舉例說，在過去，貧困家庭對一個新生女嬰的未來設想通常是儘早把她嫁出去，因為付給丈夫家庭的嫁妝會隨着妻 子年齡的增長而增加。儘管1980年法律禁止了收送嫁妝的行為，但這種習俗仍在繼續。女孩兒通常會早在13歲就出嫁，永遠都不會離開她的村子，她永遠都不 會知道，她或者她的孩子本可以擁有一個更美好的未來。
從某種程度上來說，正因為許多婦女和她們的女兒如今在制衣行業找到了工作，即便是在一些沒有任何勞工權利保障的工廠，貧困家庭已經改變了他們對未來的設想。更多家庭有了長遠的目標，如讓他們的子女接受教育，存錢、取得小額貸款來做生意，建造、維護更衛生的生活空間。
許多外人在聽到孟加拉一詞時只會想到災難：工廠大火、颶風、洪水和貧窮。但真實的孟加拉國也誕生了小額信貸以及生機勃勃的公民社會。在生活標準方 面，我們也看到了迅速的進步：產婦死亡率是1990年時的四分之一、幼兒死亡率是1980年時的五分之一，並且我們已經消除了中小學入學人數上的性別差 距。
可如果我們允許薩瓦爾這樣的悲劇繼續出現，這些可喜的進步也就沒有太大意義了。法律必須為所有人服務，不論他們富裕還是貧窮，是無地的工人還是工廠主。我們不能允許那些從剝削窮苦者中獲利的人繼續如此輕視生命。
那麼，這個問題該如何解決？孟加拉國自身必須首先做出改變。這個國家也需要有關方面展示出新的政治意願，要讓那些置人命於如此巨大的危險之中的人承擔責任。這還需要工廠主、包括我的組織在內的公民社會組織，以及西方買家在內的私營部門提供支持。
解決方案應該從工人身上着手；僱主必須允許他們成立工會，這樣他們就能進行集體協商，並要求僱主對基本的報酬和安全標準負起責任。只有他們組織起來的力量才能對抗企業主和政客那種不負責任的聯合體，因為這兩者往往沆瀣一氣、難分彼此。
西方買家不應該在價格上壓榨工廠主，而應該提供資金來創造更好的安全標準。海外市場應該明白這一點，改善安全條件的代價並不很高，因而不能成為提高 銷售價格的理由。對工人惡劣的工作條件感到震驚的消費者也應當認識到，當工人的生命安全沒有保障時，把價格標籤作為唯一購買標準的市場絕對不是一個公平的 競爭環境。
同時，工廠主也不能逃脫責任，因為過失犯罪是不可原諒的。但是，我們也無法信任他們會主動採取所有那些他們可能實施的措施。在這個國家，首都與周邊 地區共有10萬家工廠，其服裝行業共有300萬名工人，而監察人員卻只有18人，這只會誘導不講道德的僱主犯下一些昧良心的錯誤。所以，我們必須大幅增加 監察隊伍的規模，而他們也應該嚴格執行安全標準。
最後，即便政府加強了執行力度，它必須停止忽視工人的安全問題。然而，只要僱主和政客還在相互勾結，共謀如何逃避過失犯罪的責任，這一點就會極其難 以完成。說到底，這才是把數千名工人困在薩瓦爾脆弱不堪並最終倒塌的廠房裡的原因。如果這些問題得不到解決，我們就不能忘記這些工人。
“孟加拉國製造”(Made in Bangladesh)應該是一個自豪的標誌，而不是恥辱的標誌。孟加拉國的公民社會已經做好了與官方一起完成這一目標的準備。20世紀70年代，在這個 國家建國初期，孟加拉國充滿了爭取獨立的力量，這是一種脫離剝削的渴望。這種力量催生了小額信貸、社區衛生工作和其他一些社會創新措施，這些舉措與紡織業 等出口行業帶來的新經濟機遇相結合，改變了數千萬窮人，尤其是女性的生活。
今天，我和我的同胞一起沉痛哀悼，但是我也要大聲呼籲，這種情況決不能繼續下去。在哀悼逝去生命的同時，讓我們重燃那種解放精神。
法茲勒·哈桑·阿比德(Fazle Hasan Abed)是反貧困組織BRAC（前身為孟加拉國農村發展委員會）的創始人和主席。
翻譯：曹莉、陳柳
翻譯：曹莉、陳柳
As protests by seamstresses for more rights and better wages grow louder
in Bangladesh following the collapse of a textile factory, owners have
reacted by closing down shops.
It came as a big surprise to the many women working in Bangladesh's
textile factories. After days of protests for better working conditions
by thousands of seamstresses, factory owners have announced the closure
of textile operations, adding that even more closures were imminent.
The news was a shock for many, said Shireen Huq, an activist and founder of the women's rights organization, Naripokkho. "The workers, when they protested, demanded to be taken seriously and not to be faced with closure. This is definitely not what the workers wanted. The closing hardly affects the lives of the owners, but it is very detrimental to the lives of many workers who don't even earn decent wages to begin with," she stressed.
In late April, an eight-story office and factory building collapsed in Savar, a suburb of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. According to official figures, 1,127 bodies were pulled from the rubble and 2,438 people suffered injuries.
In response to the disaster, the government shut down 22 textile factories in which the safety of employees could not be ensured, reported Amirul Haque Amin, chairman of the Bangladesh textile union, National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF). ""We agree because workers cannot work in unsafe buildings. But we demand compensation and payment of wages," he said.
Negotiation, not closure
Textile workers have been demanding better wages and more rights
In the Ashulia industrial complex, not far from the collapsed
building, hundreds of textile factories are supposed to be closed. Some
the country's most important manufacturers are among the roughly 500
factories located there.
On Monday (13.05.2013), the workers at some 400 factories left their jobs to demand higher wages and the hanging of the owner of the collapsed building. Amirul Haque Amin argues that closing factories is wrong. "A factory closure is not good for workers, or for management. Workers need negotiation, employers need to see how they can negotiate, or resolve this unrest. Closing down factories is not a good way," he said.
Many textile workers are now afraid of losing their jobs. Shilpi Akhtar is one of them. The 25-year-old seamstress works for Star Garments in Dhaka. Her husband is unemployed and she feed a family of five with her wages of 46 euros a month. "It is difficult economically for our family. What we need are not factory closings, but rather, higher wages and better safety in the workplace," she said.
Minimum wages and trade unions
Shilpi Akhtar, a seamstress, is afraid of losing her job
Under pressure from national and international public opinion,
the government in Bangladesh has been forced to respond. It has decided
to raise the legal minimum wage, which currently stands at about 30
euros a month, although it is not clear when the commission of
government representatives, employers and workers will set the new
minimum wage and how high it will be.
In addition, the government has also agreed to a change in the law to allow factory workers in future to organize in independent trade unions and pursue collective bargaining agreements with employers. The precise language of this new law has not been made public, so union leader Haque Amin said he would rather wait before commenting on it.
Women's activist, Shireen Huq is less reserved. The right of workers to join a trade union has been a key demand for a long time, she told Deutsche Welle. "If the workers had been union organized, no one could have forced them to work on the day the building collapsed," she said.
But not all unions are the same, she pointed out. "The trade union movement in this country is very divided along political party lines. And they are more loyal to political parties than to workers interests. So it is our concern that the unions which are formed in the textile sector must be independent of political parties and their loyalty and interest should be that of the textile workers and not of political parties," she emphasized.
National dialogue
Police sifting through the ashes after a fire in another textile factory
Shireen Huq takes part in the 'national dialogue', an official
round of discussions in Dhaka that brings together government and
business leaders as well as representatives from trade unions and civil
society. "Together, we want to ensure that such a disaster never happens
again," Huq said.
The participants in the talks have identified five fundamental demands: in addition to higher wages and union membership, the issues include better safety in the workplace, life- and accident insurance partly financed by employers and better healthcare for employees.
"We don't want retailers and buyers to leave Bangladesh. Some have said they don't want to buy any more clothes from Bangladesh. That is the wrong response. We want the sector to be protected, as it includes the largest number of women workers in this country. And the fact that women are working in the garment industry has had a positive effect on the country's social structure. It has made for positive changes in the lives of women and their families," Huq noted.
In the meantime, there has been some movement at the international level. Several global players in the retail clothing industry have negotiated a five-year accord with the International Labor Organization (ILO). New guidelines have been agreed on to strengthen worker rights, improve building safety with more fire protection, expand vocational training and provide financial support.
If these guidelines are actually implemented it will be the birth of a new era for textile workers, like Shilpi Akhtar - with more job and economic security.
The news was a shock for many, said Shireen Huq, an activist and founder of the women's rights organization, Naripokkho. "The workers, when they protested, demanded to be taken seriously and not to be faced with closure. This is definitely not what the workers wanted. The closing hardly affects the lives of the owners, but it is very detrimental to the lives of many workers who don't even earn decent wages to begin with," she stressed.
In late April, an eight-story office and factory building collapsed in Savar, a suburb of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. According to official figures, 1,127 bodies were pulled from the rubble and 2,438 people suffered injuries.
In response to the disaster, the government shut down 22 textile factories in which the safety of employees could not be ensured, reported Amirul Haque Amin, chairman of the Bangladesh textile union, National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF). ""We agree because workers cannot work in unsafe buildings. But we demand compensation and payment of wages," he said.
Negotiation, not closure
Textile workers have been demanding better wages and more rights
On Monday (13.05.2013), the workers at some 400 factories left their jobs to demand higher wages and the hanging of the owner of the collapsed building. Amirul Haque Amin argues that closing factories is wrong. "A factory closure is not good for workers, or for management. Workers need negotiation, employers need to see how they can negotiate, or resolve this unrest. Closing down factories is not a good way," he said.
Many textile workers are now afraid of losing their jobs. Shilpi Akhtar is one of them. The 25-year-old seamstress works for Star Garments in Dhaka. Her husband is unemployed and she feed a family of five with her wages of 46 euros a month. "It is difficult economically for our family. What we need are not factory closings, but rather, higher wages and better safety in the workplace," she said.
Minimum wages and trade unions
Shilpi Akhtar, a seamstress, is afraid of losing her job
In addition, the government has also agreed to a change in the law to allow factory workers in future to organize in independent trade unions and pursue collective bargaining agreements with employers. The precise language of this new law has not been made public, so union leader Haque Amin said he would rather wait before commenting on it.
Women's activist, Shireen Huq is less reserved. The right of workers to join a trade union has been a key demand for a long time, she told Deutsche Welle. "If the workers had been union organized, no one could have forced them to work on the day the building collapsed," she said.
But not all unions are the same, she pointed out. "The trade union movement in this country is very divided along political party lines. And they are more loyal to political parties than to workers interests. So it is our concern that the unions which are formed in the textile sector must be independent of political parties and their loyalty and interest should be that of the textile workers and not of political parties," she emphasized.
National dialogue
Police sifting through the ashes after a fire in another textile factory
The participants in the talks have identified five fundamental demands: in addition to higher wages and union membership, the issues include better safety in the workplace, life- and accident insurance partly financed by employers and better healthcare for employees.
"We don't want retailers and buyers to leave Bangladesh. Some have said they don't want to buy any more clothes from Bangladesh. That is the wrong response. We want the sector to be protected, as it includes the largest number of women workers in this country. And the fact that women are working in the garment industry has had a positive effect on the country's social structure. It has made for positive changes in the lives of women and their families," Huq noted.
In the meantime, there has been some movement at the international level. Several global players in the retail clothing industry have negotiated a five-year accord with the International Labor Organization (ILO). New guidelines have been agreed on to strengthen worker rights, improve building safety with more fire protection, expand vocational training and provide financial support.
If these guidelines are actually implemented it will be the birth of a new era for textile workers, like Shilpi Akhtar - with more job and economic security.
沒有留言:
張貼留言