TNC: Apple Inc.

Question 1

Apple is a US owned company based in

Answer 1

Cupertino, north California

Question 2

Apple started business in

Answer 2

1976

Question 3

Apple is now the world’s…………largest IT company by revenue after …………………

Answer 3

second largest after Samsung

Question 4

Apple has………………….full time employees

Answer 4

98,000

Question 5

Apple has over……..retail stores

Answer 5

450

Question 6

in 2014, apple was the….largest TNC globally with total assets of………………..

Answer 6

11th largest

US$ 207 billion

Question 7

in 2011, …..% of Apple’s product sales were in …………..

Answer 7

44%

in the USA

Question 8

in the last five years, apple’s most rapid growth has been in

Answer 8

the Asia-Pacific region

Question 9

Apple’s european headquarters are in …………… where ………………….people are employed in iMac production and customer support.
a further………………..people are employed in the supply chain

Answer 9

Cork, Ireland
4,000 people
2,500

Question 10

apple outsources its manufacturing to …………………, a Taiwanese company operating in………………

Answer 10

Foxconn

operating in mainland China

Question 11

most of apple’s target market is situated in……………….countries

Answer 11

developed

Question 12

apple’s R & D sectors are situated in Silicon, an example of where……………has taken place

Answer 12

agglomeration

Question 13

Foxconn operates in Shenzen, which was China’s first and most successful ………………………………………

Answer 13

special economic zone (SEZ)

Question 14

apple manufactures in china because: (3 reasons)

Answer 14

• china offers a large source of highly skilled, hard working labour for low wages
• a series of companies competed for apple’s manufacturing contract, driving costs down
• shenzen is china’s most successful SEZ (special economic zone) with incentives to attract FDI

Question 15

in Foxconn City, a site of agglomerated high-tech companies, ……………………people are employed, supposedly earning US$……………….a month, which is higher than the living wages

Answer 15

400,000 workers

US$ 200

Question 16

apple actually owns ………………..factory(ies) in the entire world

Answer 16

1 factory in ireland

Question 17

apple was lured to ireland because of the governemnt’s …………% corporation tax.
this is the………………..lowest tax in europe

Answer 17

12.5%

second lowest

Question 18

most of the highly skilled workers in cork at apple’s site are from

Answer 18

the EU or USA, not Irish

Question 19

apple has been accused of ……………………in ireland

Answer 19

corporate tax avoidance

Question 20

in 20…..,at the shenzen factory in china, ………………………workers were working more than …………..hours a week for just US$……….. a month, half of which was used for living costs

Answer 20

2006
200,000
60 hours a week
US$ 100 (real wage only US$ 50)

Question 21

in 2010, …………..workers were poisoned by a toxic chemical used to clean iPad screens because………………………..
the workers tried to sue apple, and most cases were…………………..

Answer 21

50 workers
apple had not installed adequate ventilation to save costs
cases were settled out of court (bribes or blackmail used)

Question 22

children and university students have to work in order to

Answer 22

be allowed to graduate at foxconn city

Question 23

by the end of 20………….., ……suicides had occured at a foxconn factory largely as a consequence of the severe working conditions

Answer 23

2010

14 suicides

Question 24

in response to criticism on poor working conditions i its outsourced factories, apple has

Answer 24

a Supplier Code of Conduct

Question 25

four things which apple was criticised on environmentally were:

Answer 25

• reliance on non-renewably generated electricity to power its data centres
• use of toxic brominated flame retardants and PVC
• factories in china were discharging pollutants into the local water supple, endangering public health
• lack of recyclability of apple’s products