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Most of us probably own at least one of their products; an iPhone, iPod, Mac PC, iPad, etc, but do we ever think about the human cost of our favourite gadgets? Well, Apple, who yesterday announced profits of $13 billion, have come under criticism for the conditions in which their devices are being made.

The majority of Apple products are built in factories in China. These factories have come under fire due to long hours for workers, unsafe work environments, explosions that have killed and injured employees, and even physical punishment for workers.

Reported in the New York Times, four were killed and 77 injured by two explosions at two iPad factories in China during a seven month period last year. Although Apple enforce a code of conduct which suppliers must adhere to, and carry out audits on suppliers, mistakes are clearly being made.

In some factories, reports are appearing alleging that the code of conduct is being ignored. Advocacy group Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour warned of poor health and safety conditions at one of the two factories which experienced explosions, two weeks before they occurred.

The code of conduct outlines that employees are not to work more than sixty hours a week, conditions must be safe, workers are to be treated with respect, and that the manufacturing of their goods is environmentally responsible. Apple has previously tried to stamp out child labour in factories which supply their products, and increase the amount of factories that stick to the sixty hours a week limit and comply with environmental standards.

In the New York Times article, Charles Duhigg and David Barboza, report that one employee was working twelve hour days, six days a week, and that 70,000 workers were living in company dorms, often 20 people to one three bedroom apartment.

The Times article reports that, in an almost 1984, Big Brother-esque fashion, posters were placed around the Chengdu factory, one of the two in which explosions occurred, declaring: “Work hard on the job today or work hard to find a job tomorrow”.

Many large computer companies outsource the building of their equipment to China, taking advantage of cheap labour in countries where workers have less rights than the UK, America, and other Western countries. Foxconn alone has plants across China that supply companies such as Microsoft, Dell and Sony, producing around 40% of the world’s consumer electronics. This in itself produces further criticism of American technology companies outsourcing work to foreign countries.

Despite negative reports, Apple have taken steps towards improving transparency and conditions in their factories by joining the Fair Labour Association.

Most of us are strongly attached to our Apple gadgets (some of us too much!), but who is really paying for Apple’s profits – those who purchase their products, or those who make them? What role do we as consumers play in all of this – do we care more about the quick production of constantly updated and improved gadgets for relatively low prices, or the ethics, morals, and people behind their production?