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INTEREST: CNN visits Foxconn factory
by Wayne Billing 06 Feb '12

06 Feb '12

- Added On February 6, 2012 CNN's John Vause describes the conditions he saw while visiting a Foxconn factory…. http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/01/12/lklv-grant-china-foxc… - Added On January 12, 2012 Microsoft investigates a report that workers at a plant manufacturing Xbox systems threatened suicide in a pay dispute. http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/01/12/lklv-grant-china-foxc… …and the undercutting of production costs by China is not restricted to the American electronics industry: - Added On February 5, 2012 Indian weavers say an invasion of cheap Chinese fabric is threatening an ancient art. CNN's Sara Sidner reports. http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/02/06/sidner-india-chinese-sari-… Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support 130 Machray Hall Building 474-6649 474-7625 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:Wayne_Billing@umanitoba.ca>

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FYI: Your Deleted Facebook Photos Still Aren’t Really Deleted
by Wayne Billing 06 Feb '12

06 Feb '12

…from: http://gizmodo.com/5882703/your-deleted-facebook-photos-still-arent-really-… Your Deleted Facebook Photos Still Aren’t Really Deleted Three years ago, Ars Technica discovered that when you "deleted" your photos, they were still kept on Facebook's servers<http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/07/are-those-photos-really-deleted-fro…>, and anyone with a static URL could still access it. Three years later, Ars Technica revisited the matter and found little has changed<http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/02/nearly-3-years-later-deleted-f…>. But Facebook says that things will be different...eventually. Ars Technica's Jacqui Cheng got Facebook to comment on the matter, they're developing a new one which will permanently wipe photos off their servers within 45 days of a user "deleting" the photo from the site. "The systems we used for photo storage a few years ago did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site," Facebook spokesperson Frederic Wolens told Ars via e-mail. Wolens explained that photos remaining online are stuck in a legacy system that was apparently never operating properly, but said the company is working on a new system that will delete the photos in a mere month and a half. For really real this time. So if there's some incriminating piece of imagery on Facebook you're really dying to have removed once and for all, maybe all hope isn't lost entirely. [Ars Technica<http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/02/nearly-3-years-later-deleted-f…>] Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support 130 Machray Hall Building 474-6649 474-7625 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:Wayne_Billing@umanitoba.ca>

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INTEREST: "rot at US Electronics core could sicken consumers"
by Billing Wayne 30 Jan '12

30 Jan '12

"In fairness, these evils are not unique to Apple. The same factories churn out electronics for Dell , Acer, Lenovo, Nintendo, Panasonic, Samsung, IBM, Cisco, Motorola, Amazon [GE, RIM, Microsoft] and so on." …from: http://adage.com/article/bob-garfield/bob-garfield-rot-apple-s-core-sicken-… …but it could have been from many other 'net sites as we'll…. The Rot at Apple's Core Could Sicken Consumers -- and Its Business They May Be Unable to Stomach Any More Awful News About Labor Practices By: Bob Garfield Published: January 27, 2012 A correction has been made in this story. See below for details. Bob Garfield Let's start by talking about how great Apple is. Apple is sooooo great! This week its fourth-quarter earnings were announced. On the strength of phenomenal sales of 15 million iPads and 37 million iPhones, the company recorded profits of $13.1 billion on revenues of $46.3 billion. In cash. In three months. This windfall helped Apple's stock price, which surged enough to nudge the company past a little boutique called Exxon-Mobil as the largest industrial corporation in the world. Plus, the iPad is super cool, and the iPhone is, too. And, duh, iTunes! And the biography of Steve Jobs, may he obsess in peace, has been on the bestseller list for three months. No wonder President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union Address, singled the company out as emblematic of all we as a nation should aspire to: "You see, an economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country. That means women should earn equal pay for equal work. It means we should support everyone who's willing to work, and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs." Now, the mood in Washington is such that if Obama admires the weather, the Republicans will disagree; they will call the weather a path toward socialism. But not Tuesday. In the GOP response to the president's address, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels got his licks in, but he also raced to bow at the altar of the sainted one. "Contrary to the president's constant disparagement of people in business, it's one of the noblest of human pursuits. The late Steve Jobs -- what a fitting name he had -- created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the president borrowed and blew." [,,,] Since then, however, there have been what the TV news anchors call "new developments." One is a series of New York Times stories documenting how Apple's manufacturing jobs -- 700,000 of them -- are provided by contractors overseas, chiefly China, and how workers there labor for long hours at vanishingly low wages in hazardous conditions. Perhaps Mitch Daniels should call the late CEO Steve Offshore Jobs. Then came a long segment on "This American Life" by monologist Mike Daisey, who infiltrated Shenzhen, a Chinese factory city and Apple contract-manufacturing plant, to find out where his iPad came from. There he discovered inhuman dormitory conditions, brutal shop-floor hazards including haphazard use of the neurotoxin n-hexane to spray-clean tablet screens, child labor and a huge net dangling over the shop floor to stem the tide of worker suicides: at least 12 at the plant in 2010 alone. When a worker complained to the local "labor board," she was promptly fired and blacklisted -- in writing, with no attempt to conceal the act: "In a fascist country run by thugs, you don't have to be subtle," Daisey said. "You can say exactly what you mean. The sheet is very clear that it comes from the labor board, and it says right across the top, 'The following is a list of troublemakers. If any of them are found in your employ, dismiss them immediately.' And then there's just column after column after column of names. Page after page after page of them." In fairness, these evils are not unique to Apple. The same factories churn out electronics for Dell , Acer, Lenovo, Nintendo, Panasonic, Samsung, IBM, Cisco, Motorola, Amazon and so on. And over time such enterprise will create a middle class in China, and other developing countries, helping to eradicate grinding property -- and new markets for our own export goods. In the meantime, however, Apple and the rest are raking in billions of dollars of profits by relegating foreign workers to conditions we wouldn't tolerate in our own prisons. The heroes of free enterprise were caught, Red China-handed, being themselves. And the world is beginning to figure it out, because in the digital age all corporations live in glass houses, and people in glass houses shouldn't clean the windows with n-hexane. Furthermore, in the social-media age scandal is traded back and forth, perpetually, at the speed of send. Perhaps many Apple aficionados are prepared to strike a Faustian bargain -- vague tugs of guilt in exchange for the coolest stuff ever -- but some will not. The backlash is no doubt under way. In the Relationship Era, you can surely benefit from 3.27 million spontaneous expressions of affection, but just ask Johnson & Johnson. It can all very quickly turn to dust. Here is but one blog post I located in the wake of recent news coverage: "I don't think I will be an Apple customer anymore! I would rather inferior technology." The headline on the post? "Apple sucks!"

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INTEREST: Google's new privacy policy
by Wayne Billing 25 Jan '12

25 Jan '12

…from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/google-tracks-consumers-acro… FAQ: Google’s new privacy policy [cid:EC8DCBB6-6076-43A3-8608-D62E4E3C687B]<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/google-moves-to-integrate-us…><http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/google-moves-to-integrate-us…> View Photo Gallery — Google announced a new privacy policy and terms of service on Jan. 24. Here’s a look at some of the Google products that will be affected by the policy change.<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/google-moves-to-integrate-us…> * [Smaller Text] <http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> [Larger Text] <http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> Text Size * Print<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> * E-mail<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> * Reprints<http://www.washingtonpostreprints.com/> By Hayley Tsukayama<http://www.washingtonpost.com/hayley-tsukayama/2011/03/25/AFwMAnXB_page.html>, Published: January 24 Google announced Tuesday that it will integrate users’ information<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/google-tracks-consumers-a…> across Gmail, YouTube, search and 57 other Google services. Google privacy director Alma Whitten, who explained the changes in a company blog post Tuesday afternoon, said the company will “treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.” 49<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> Comments<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> * Weigh In<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> * Corrections?<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/interactivity/corrections/> inShare<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> Gallery [cid:A0D4337A-A21D-4785-9463-1D38BC0925AC]<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/googles-move-toward-online-dominance…><http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/googles-move-toward-online-dominance…> A look at some of the major deals the Web giant has made or attempted in an effort to expand its reach.<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/googles-move-toward-online-dominance…> Gallery [cid:5563EB7E-21BE-4AB5-907D-FF14A75B1865]<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/the-2012-consumer-electro…><http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/the-2012-consumer-electro…> The annual CES exhibition in Las Vegas is a show-and-tell of sorts for the world’s largest tech companies. Here’s a look at the scene and some of the coolest gadgets unveiled at the exhibition.<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/the-2012-consumer-electro…> More On This Story * Read more of the latest business news<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business> * Google changes privacy policy; no opt-out<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/google-tracks-consumers-acro…> * FAQ: How will new privacy policy impact you?<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> * IMF sees rising recession risk<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/imf-sees-rising-recession-ri…> View all Items in this Story<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/faq-googles-new-privacy-p…> What is Google doing?: In a nutshell, Google is taking information from almost all of your Google services — including Gmail, Picasa, YouTube and search — and integrating the data so that they can learn more about you. Google Books, Google Wallet and Google Chrome will retain their own additional policies, partly for legal reasons, but Google could still integrate data from these services. What kind of information are they collecting and integrating?: Google collects and can integrate almost anything that’s already in the Google ecosystem: calendar appointments, location data, search preferences, contacts, personal habits based on Gmail chatter, device information and search queries, to name a few. Can they do that?: Well, under the company’s current privacy policies for some of its properties, Google says it can “combine the information you submit under your account with information from other Google services or third parties in order to provide you with a better experience and to improve the quality of our services.” The privacy policies for YouTube and search history, however, did not have such language. Now they do and the company has now made its ability to combine information across these and its other services more explicit. Why is Google doing this?: Google says it will be able to do a lot more “cool things” when it combines information across products. There’s “so much more that Google can do to help you” if you share your information with them. Give me an example.: From Whitten’s blog post: Google will be able to “provide reminders that you’re going to be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and an understanding of what traffic is like that day.” Interesting. Tell me more: Also from Whitten: Google will be able to “ensure that our spelling suggestions, even for your friends’ names, are accurate because you’ve typed them before.” When do the changes take effect?:March 1. Can I opt-out?: No. So what do I do if I don’t like the policy?: You can close your account. Google has provided information on how to take all of your personal information off of Google by closing your Google Account, which would erase your Gmail, Google+ and other accounts. But I have a lot of data saved on Gmail/Picasa/etc...: Google says it is committed to “data liberation” and that it will allow you to take your information elsewhere if you want to. The company said it would provide directions on how to do this in the help sections for its various services. I don’t have a Google Account, but use Google search. Am I affected?: No. The new policy only applies to people who have a Google Account linked to services such as Gmail, Picasa or YouTube and are signed in.

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INTEREST: Apple's record setting Q1 2012 report
by Wayne Billing 25 Jan '12

25 Jan '12

…from: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/apple-q1-2012-iphone-ipad-ipod-mac-hardw… http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/01/24Apple-Reports-First-Quarter-Resul… Apple's Q1 hardware sales: 37 million iPhones, 15.43 million iPads, 5.2 million Macs, 15.4 million iPods By Donald Melanson<http://www.engadget.com/editor/donald-melanson> [cid:3F2F7D44-B595-4DE1-97D6-B56C99ED267F] <http://www.engadget.com/editor/donald-melanson/rss.xml> posted Jan 24th 2012 5:30PM [cid:ED442CBB-709C-432B-8124-48243D93A967] [cid:6444D9D3-340E-49A9-BF25-F6D96CE470D3]<http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/apple-q1-2012-iphone-ipad-ipod-mac-hardw…> We touched on the numbers in our report<http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/apple-announces-q1-earnings/> on Apple's Q1 earnings, but the company's throwing out a lot of "record" figures so we thought we'd take a moment to focus on just how its hardware sales stack up. The standout number is, of course, the 37.04 million iPhones sold during the quarter, which is up 128 percent from the same quarter a year ago (and up from 17 million in the previous quarter, a jump of 117 percent). That notably puts Apple back ahead of Samsung, which sold a total of 35 million smartphones in its most recent quarter<http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/05/samsung-q4-2011-earnings/>. And as if that wasn't enough, Apple's Tim Cook also said on the company's earnings call that it could have sold even more if it had more supply. iPad sales also set a new record with 15.43 million units sold during the quarter, which is a 111 percent jump from the 7.3 million sold a year ago, and a 39 percent increase from the 11.1 million moved in Q4 2011. Once again, however, iPods are the one category that continues to decline in the face of the growth of smartphones. Apple sold a total of 15.4 million iPods -- over half of which were iPod touches -- which represents a 21 percent decline from the 19.4 million sold a year ago. The holiday shopping season did boost sales considerably from the 6.6 million sold in the previous quarter, though. Mac sales were also on the upswing, totaling 5.2 million units -- a 26 percent increase year-over-year. Breaking things down further, that translates to 1.48 million desktops (including iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Pro), and 3.7 million laptops (including the basic MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro). As for the company's "hobby," the Apple TV, it rang up 1.4 million in sales for the quarter, and 2.8 million for the 2011 fiscal year. Fans of charts can get their fix after the break.

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INTEREST: EU to Retailers: Take Back Old Equipment Without Charge or Sale
by Wayne Billing 22 Jan '12

22 Jan '12

…from: http://www.pcworld.com/article/248415/eu_electronic_retailers_must_take_bac… EU Electronic Retailers Must Take Back Old Equipment Without Charge or Sale By Jennifer Baker<http://www.pcworld.com/author/Jennifer-Baker>, IDG News<http://www.idgnews.net/> Jan 19, 2012 12:01 pm The European Parliament on Thursday approved plans to force large electronic retailers to take back old equipment. The new rules are as part of a shakeup of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive and will gradually come into force over the next seven years. Only one third of electrical and electronic waste in the European Union is separately collected and appropriately treated and the revised directive will increase the collection target from its current 4 kilograms per capita to around 20 kilograms per capita by 2020. By 2020, it is estimated that the volume of electronic equipment will increase to 12 million tons and the E.U. authorities want to see 85 percent of that collected and treated. The retailer take-back plan means that larger electrical goods stores, with a shop space of 400 square meters or larger, will have to accept small electronic items, such as mobile phones, free of charge, without making users purchase a new product. Welcoming Thursday's vote, E.U. Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: "Proper treatment of WEEE is important to prevent harm to human health and the environment, and its systematic collection is the precondition for professional recycling of the valuable raw materials like gold, silver, copper and rare metals, contained in our used TVs, laptops and mobile phones." The revised directive also includes a clampdown on illegal exports of waste electronic equipment. Equipment that is no longer under warranty can only be exported to non-OECD countries if it has been certified to be fully functional and sent properly. "It is long overdue that we stop making developing countries the dumping ground for our hazardous waste," said Green member of the European Parliament, Michalis Tremopoulos. Follow Jennifer on Twitter at @BrusselsGeek<http://twitter.com/BrusselsGeek> or email tips and comments tojennifer_baker(a)idg.com<mailto:jennifer_baker@idg.com>.

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INTEREST: Apple Navigates China Maze
by Wayne Billing 14 Jan '12

14 Jan '12

…from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158764211274708.h… * JANUARY 14, 2012 Apple Navigates China Maze Firm Details Labor Conditions as Unruly Fans Mar Beijing Debut of New iPhone Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158764211274708.h… By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO<http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=JESSICA+E.+VASCELLARO&bylin…> and OWEN FLETCHER<http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=OWEN+FLETCHER&bylinesearch=…> Apple<http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=AAPL> Inc. is increasingly finding itself pinched between the promise and perils of doing business in China. That challenge was thrown into sharp relief by a pair of developments Friday. Under pressure from activists in the U.S. and abroad, the company released a 27-page report detailing working conditions throughout its supply chain, which sprawls throughout Asia, but especially China. The report followed an unexpected fracas outside an Apple store in Beijing, after fans couldn't get their hands on the latest iPhone. [cid:22CDC884-39CD-4187-8651-009FC08349C2]<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158764211274708.h…> Apple disclosed a comprehensive list of its major suppliers for the first time, along with a detailed report on factory inspections. Jessica Vascellaro has details on The News Hub. Photo: Reuters Local police ordered Apple to close the store, saying the situation wasn't safe. Apple later said it would temporarily halt sales of all iPhones in its five retail stores in mainland China. Chinese authorities have looked unkindly on such disturbances, and Apple executives scrambled to control fallout from the incident, which was shown in videos around the world. In one of his first interviews as chief executive, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said the flap was "unfortunate" and "we will learn some things for the future and change some things." He added that safety was of the "upmost importance" to the company. The Chinese market is of growing significance to Apple. Last fall, it said China was its fastest-growing region, with around $13 billion in annual sales. Enlarge Image [applejh] [applejh] Reuters TV/Reuters Apple said it has set new requirements for how suppliers handle combustible dust after an explosion, above, at a Foxconn plant last year. Demand for the company's iPhones, iPads and Macs reached such a fever pitch in 2011 that some 40,000 people were visiting its Beijing and Shanghai stores each day. But deepening ties to China have brought a new set of complications. In 2009, Apple chose to start selling the iPhone in the country without Wi-Fi wireless Internet capability to comply with government regulations. At the same time, Apple has faced Western and Asian activists, who have complained about conditions at the company's Asian suppliers. In the interview, Mr. Cook said improving working conditions has long been a corporate priority. He said he believes Apple is "raising the bar" for the industry. Apple's supplier report could pique Chinese authorities, who have long sought to stem criticism about business practices there. Apple's Report Card Findings from the firm's annual audit of its suppliers 62% weren't compliant with working-hours limits. 32% weren't compliant with hazardous-substance management practices. 35%failed to meet Apple's standards to prevent worker injuries. (Source: Apple's report) The report is the most comprehensive on the subject in Apple's history, based on 229 audits of factories that do work for the company, the world's second-largest by market capitalization. Apple said that at its direction, suppliers have stopped discriminatory screenings for medical conditions or pregnancy. Apple also said it found 112 facilities that weren't properly storing, moving or handling hazardous chemicals. Apple said it was taking new steps to better monitor and improve conditions at factories, including increasing audits in Malaysia and Singapore and expanding its worker education program. Nearly a third of its suppliers didn't abide by Apple's standards on wages and benefits, the company said. The audits also found five facilities that employed underage workers. Related Video [cid:D26ACFA3-D1FA-441A-8247-3D23B009D181]<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158764211274708.h…> Google is trying to win over Chinese consumers with services that don't require official censorship. Kelsey Hubbard interviews WSJ's Amir Efrati. Photo: Associated Press. "I have spent a lot of time in factories over my lifetime and we are clearly leading in this area," said Mr. Cook, who previously oversaw the company's supply chain as chief operating officer. "It is like innovating in products. You can focus on things that are barriers or you can focus on scaling the wall or redefining the problem." Chinese government ministries weren't immediately available for comment on Friday. While Apple has occasionally divulged selected suppliers, the new list covers those 156 companies that represent 97% of its materials, manufacturing and assembly spending. Apple's List of Suppliers View Document<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158764211274708.h…> [[docid=120113175516-d3c9ff54b84b4b7a850e59158458406f|file=applesupplierlist]]<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158764211274708.h…> Report on Supplier Compliance View Document<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158764211274708.h…> [[docid=120113175541-0f6d14e42cad4b58a7bf52d180d2957c|file=appleprogressreport]]<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158764211274708.h…> Enlarge Image [appleart] [appleart] Getty Images San Francisco Apple store It includes a range of global technology companies, such as Sony<http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=SNE> Corp. and Intel<http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=INTC> Corp., along with lesser-known names like Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co. Ltd. The report makes several references to one of Apple's biggest manufacturing partners, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. The company, also known as Foxconn, grappled with a spate of employee suicides at a facility in Shenzhen, China, in 2010 and an explosion that killed four workers and injured 18 at plant in Chengdu, China, last year. Apple said it has established new requirements for firms dealing with combustible dust after the blast in Chengdu and an explosion at another supplier's factory in Shanghai that injured 59. Apple also said it is joining the Fair Labor Association, agreeing to outside monitoring of its suppliers. "Working hours is a complex issue," said Mr. Cook, saying he was confident the company can improve in the area by "monitoring these plants at a very, very micro level." "I know this is a journey," he said. Aron Cramer, president of BSR, a San Francisco non-profit that works on environment and human rights issues, said Apple, one of its members, isn't alone in issuing detailed working conditions reports. But he said it is doing so from a position of particular scrutiny. "There's interest in everything they do," he said. Meanwhile, Apple was still grappling with the fallout from the Beijing melee. Related Video [cid:464A0354-6A70-4A53-B055-549604B780C6]<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158764211274708.h…> Google, which pulled its Web-search engine out of mainland China two years ago after a confrontation with Chinese authorities over censorship, has renewed its push to expand there, Spencer Ante reports on Markets Hub. (Photo: Reuters) High-profile launches for Apple products often come with massive crowds and, occasionally, unruliness. In the interview, Mr. Cook said Apple had "taken all necessary precautions." "I think we were all taken by surprise," he said. Chinese state media reports blamed the incident on iPhone scalpers. On Friday morning, authorities began forcing people away from the store and blocking the cameras of reporters who had shown up to cover the event. Men with megaphones began declaring that sales wouldn't start and people should leave.

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INTEREST: flooding in Thailand could affect computer shipments
by billing 20 Nov '11

20 Nov '11

...from: http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2011/11/pc-shipments-could-drop-more-t… PC shipments could drop 10% due to hard drive shortages By Jon Brodkin | Published 9 days ago The widespread flooding in Thailand that disrupted operations at hard disk drive factories will lead to significantly declining PC shipments, say market analysts. Thailand accounted for 40 to 45 percent of worldwide HDD production in the first half of 2011, but flooding has impacted more than a dozen factories,according to IDC. Much of the PC production for the fourth quarter of 2011 occurred before the flooding, or can be completed with existing drive inventory. But overall PC production will still decline this quarter and drop even further in the beginning of 2012, with normal operations not expected to return until the second half of next year, IDC said. "PC shipments will decline between 2.2 percent and 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, down from a prior forecast for 5.1 percent growth," Bloomberg reported, quoting IDC numbers. "In the first quarter, shipments may drop by 1.8 percent to 13.4 percent. IDC had projected a gain of 8.2 percent." Goldman Sachs is also projecting PC shipment declines of 3 percent year-over-year in the current quarter, and an 8.5 percent drop in the first quarter of 2012, according to Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs further said Microsoft's profit and sales will decline because fewer Windows PCs will be sold. IDC noted that hard drive prices are rising "as demand exceeds supply and manufacturers face increased costs for components, expedited shipments, and shifting of production to new locations." Pricing won't stabilize until June. The smaller hardware vendors are likely to lose out. "In response to the crisis, priority will be given to the large PC manufacturers that drive HDD shipment volumes as well as to the high-margin products used in enterprise servers and storage," IDC Research Vice President John Rydning said in a press release. In the PC category, the biggest impacts will be on emerging markets, netbooks, and entry-level consumer PCs.

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INTEREST: how to get light to shine through aluminum....
by Billing Wayne 06 Nov '11

06 Nov '11

.....well, use lasers to drill some holes, of course. ...from: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/apples-supplychain-secret-hoard-lasers… TECHNOLOGY November 03, 2011, 4:50 PM EDT Apple's Supply-Chain Secret? Hoard Lasers The iPhone maker spends lavishly on all stages of the manufacturing process, giving it a huge operations advantage Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer By Adam Satariano and Peter Burrows Satariano is a reporter for Bloomberg News. Burrows is a senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, based in San Francisco. About five years ago, Apple (AAPL) design guru Jony Ive decided he wanted a new feature for the next MacBook: a small dot of green light above the screen, shining through the computer’s aluminum casing to indicate when its camera was on. The problem? It’s physically impossible to shine light through metal. Ive called in a team of manufacturing and materials experts to figure out how to make the impossible possible, according to a former employee familiar with the development who requested anonymity to avoid irking Apple. The team discovered it could use a customized laser to poke holes in the aluminum small enough to be nearly invisible to the human eye but big enough to let light through. Applying that solution at massive volume was a different matter. Apple needed lasers, and lots of them. The team of experts found a U.S. company that made laser equipment for microchip manufacturing which, after some tweaking, could do the job. Each machine typically goes for about $250,000. Apple convinced the seller to sign an exclusivity agreement and has since bought hundreds of them to make holes for the green lights that now shine on the company’s MacBook Airs, Trackpads, and wireless keyboards. Most of Apple’s customers have probably never given that green light a second thought, but its creation speaks to a massive competitive advantage for Apple: Operations. This is the world of manufacturing, procurement, and logistics in which the new chief executive officer, Tim Cook, excelled, earning him the trust of Steve Jobs. According to more than a dozen interviews with former employees, executives at suppliers, and management experts familiar with the company’s operations, Apple has built a closed ecosystem where it exerts control over nearly every piece of the supply chain, from design to retail store. Because of its volume—and its occasional ruthlessness—Apple gets big discounts on parts, manufacturing capacity, and air freight. “Operations expertise is as big an asset for Apple as product innovation or marketing,” says Mike Fawkes, the former supply-chain chief at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and now a venture capitalist with VantagePoint Capital Partners. “They’ve taken operational excellence to a level never seen before.” This operational edge is what enables Apple to handle massive product launches without having to maintain large, profit-sapping inventories. It’s allowed a company often criticized for high prices to sell its iPad at a price that very few rivals can beat, while still earning a 25 percent margin on the device, according to the estimates of Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. And if the latest rumors are to be believed, Apple’s operational expertise is likely part of what gives the company enough confidence to enter the notoriously cutthroat television market by 2013 with a TV set that would tightly integrate with existing Apple software like iTunes. The widespread skepticism over Apple’s ability to compete in such a price-sensitive market, where margins are often in the single digits, is “exactly what people said when Apple got into cell phones,” says Munster. Apple began innovating on the nitty-gritty details of supply-chain management almost immediately upon Steve Jobs’s return in 1997. At the time, most computer manufacturers transported products by sea, a far cheaper option than air freight. To ensure that the company’s new, translucent blue iMacs would be widely available at Christmas the following year, Jobs paid $50 million to buy up all the available holiday air freight space, says John Martin, a logistics executive who worked with Jobs to arrange the flights. The move handicapped rivals such as Compaq that later wanted to book air transport. Similarly, when iPod sales took off in 2001, Apple realized it could pack so many of the diminutive music players on planes that it became economical to ship them directly from Chinese factories to consumers’ doors. When an HP staffer bought one and received it a few days later, tracking its progress around the world through Apple’s website, “It was an ‘Oh s—’ moment,” recalls Fawkes. That mentality—spend exorbitantly wherever necessary, and reap the benefits from greater volume in the long run—is institutionalized throughout Apple’s supply chain, and begins at the design stage. Ive and his engineers sometimes spend months living out of hotel rooms in order to be close to suppliers and manufacturers, helping to tweak the industrial processes that translate prototypes into mass-produced devices. For new designs such as the MacBook’s unibody shell, cut from a single piece of aluminum, Apple’s designers work with suppliers to create new tooling equipment. The decision to focus on a few product lines, and to do little in the way of customization, is a huge advantage. “They have a very unified strategy, and every part of their business is aligned around that strategy,” says Matthew Davis, a supply-chain analyst with Gartner (IT) who has ranked Apple as the world’s best supply chain for the last four years. When it’s time to go into production, Apple wields a big weapon: More than $80 billion in cash and investments. The company says it plans to nearly double capital expenditures on its supply chain in the next year, to $7.1 billion, while committing another $2.4 billion in prepayments to key suppliers. The tactic ensures availability and low prices for Apple—and sometimes limits the options for everyone else. Before the release of the iPhone 4 in June 2010, rivals such as HTC couldn’t buy as many screens as they needed because manufacturers were busy filling Apple orders, according to a former manager at HTC. To manufacture the iPad 2, Apple bought so many high-end drills to make the device’s internal casing that other companies’ wait time for the machines stretched from six weeks to six months, according to a manager at the drillmaker. Life as an Apple supplier is lucrative because of the high volumes but painful because of the strings attached. When Apple asks for a price quote for parts such as touchscreens, it demands a detailed accounting of how the manufacturer arrived at the quote, including its estimates for material and labor costs, and its own projected profit. Apple requires many key suppliers to keep two weeks of inventory within a mile of Apple’s assembly plants in Asia, and sometimes doesn’t pay until as long as 90 days after it uses a part, according to an executive who has consulted for Apple and would not speak on the record for fear of compromising the relationship. Not every supplier gives in. An executive who works with a major parts manufacturer says that Apple’s bargaining tactics tend to exert downward pressure on prices, leading to lower profits and margins. After months of negotiations, the company declined a $1 billion payment from Apple that would have required the supplier to commit much of its manufacturing capacity to Cupertino’s products. The executive familiar with these talks, who asked not to be named because the discussions were not public, says that while deals featuring $1 billion in cash up front are basically unheard of, his company didn’t want to be too dependent on Apple—and didn’t want to help it deflate prices. Apple’s control reaches its crescendo in the leadup to one of its famed product unveilings, a tightly orchestrated process that has been refined over years of Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad debuts. For weeks in advance of the announcement, factories work overtime to build hundreds of thousands of devices. To track efficiency and ensure pre-launch secrecy, Apple places electronic monitors in some boxes of parts that allow observers in Cupertino to track them through Chinese factories, an effort meant to discourage leaks. At least once, the company shipped products in tomato boxes to avoid detection, says the consultant who has worked with Apple. When the iPad 2 debuted, the finished devices were packed in plain boxes and Apple employees monitored every handoff point—loading dock, airport, truck depot, and distribution center—to make sure each unit was accounted for. Apple’s retail stores give it a final operational advantage. Once a product goes on sale, the company can track demand by the store and by the hour, and adjust production forecasts daily. If it becomes clear a given part will run out, teams are deployed and given approval to spend millions of dollars on extra equipment to get around the bottleneck. Apple’s enormous profits—its gross margins were 40 percent last quarter, compared with 10 to 20 percent for most other hardware companies—are in large part due to this focus on operations, which is sure to remain a priority under Cook. The new CEO is known to give colleagues copies of Competing Against Time, a book about using supply chains as a strategic weapon in business. According to Martin, the logistics executive, Cook uses a catchphrase to hammer home the need for efficiency: “Nobody wants to buy sour milk.”

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HUMOUR: remembering Andy Rooney, may he rest in peace...
by billing 06 Nov '11

06 Nov '11

Andy Rooney on "computers aren't nice to us....": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1PO7nyyLn0

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