Under pressure from labor groups, Apple for the first time unveiled a list of its suppliers and also agreed to let outside monitors audit working conditions inside the suppliers' factories.
The list came along with the company's most comprehensive report yet detailing the results of its recent factory inspections. Apple conducted 229 audits at its Asian factories, an 80 percent increase from 2010. The list of 156 companies accounted for 97 percent of what Apple pays to its suppliers.
Among the findings:
- Six active and 13 historical cases of underage labor at some component suppliers were reported, but none at final-assembly partners.
- Only 38 percent of suppliers adhered to its code of a maximum workweek of 60 hours.
- Thirty-two percent weren't properly storing, moving or handling hazardous chemicals.
- Foreign contract workers in 15 facilities paid what were deemed "excessive" recruitment fees to labor agencies.
Other violations unearthed included using machines without safeguards, testing workers for pregnancy and falsifying pay records.
Western and Asian activists have long asked Apple to follow companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Nike in revealing the names of its suppliers. Calls for greater visibility grew louder after a spate of high-profile worker suicides last year at one of the plants that supply Apple.
Some wondered if the deeper disclosures signaled a new era of transparency under new CEO Tim Cook following the "culture of secrecy" often noted under predecessor Steve Jobs.
Labor activists complained that Apple still did not identify the location of the facilities in violations and also excluded secondary suppliers, or companies providing parts to firms that directly contract with Apple. But they seemed hopeful that Apple would lead other corporations to address labor conditions and likewise offer more visibility into and accountability for foreign production.
The Wall Street Journal wrote that Apple's supplier report "could pique Chinese authorities, who have long sought to stem criticism about business practices there."
While Apple has the clout to influence suppliers, Jeff Ballinger, a global labor activist, said it would likely take paying more money by Apple to alter factory behavior. He told The New York Times, "That they don't want to do."