Success puts Apple under closer scrutiny

Brian Corrigan

Work on this Apple store in Brisbane has stopped because the contractor is in financial trouble. Glenn Hunt

After years of playing the underdog in battles against Microsoft, Apple is finding life increasingly uncomfortable as one of the world’s most valuable companies.

The wildly successful iPhone and iPad have driven the company’s market valuation to $US460 billion ($425 billion), which makes it worth more than the combined value of Google, Goldman Sachs, General Motors, Ford, Starbucks and Boeing. BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, is worth $183 billion.

Investors, analysts and an army of loyal followers pore over Apple’s every move.

On Friday in Sydney, protesters handed a petition containing 250,000 signatures to the management of Apple’s flagship store over the treatment of workers that make its gadgets in China.

It has been a week of bad news for Apple in Australia.

Kell & Rigby, the construction company responsible for building its retail outlets in Australia, is in financial trouble and was stopping work on all sites.

This includes an Apple store in Brisbane housed in an ornate colonial-style office building.

The petition delivered in Sydney is part of a global campaign organised by Change.org.

Copies have been delivered to Apple stores in London, New York, San Francisco and Bangalore.

Sydney teenager Andrew Mason wore an iPhone costume for the occasion. Although he had no intention of boycotting Apple’s products, he called on the company to address supply chain practices.

“People really do care about this a lot and people really do want change,” he said.

Apple Australia spokeswoman Fiona Martin said it conducted 229 audits of supplier factories last year and reported findings on its website. She added that Apple last month became the first technology company admitted to the Fair Labour Association, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving conditions for workers.

“We insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever Apple products are made,” Ms Martin said.

“Our suppliers must live up to these requirements if they want to keep doing business with Apple.”

Technology blog All Things Digital reported that Apple plans to unveil a new version of the iPad at an event in San Francisco next month. This would be exactly a year after it launched the iPad2, which was available in Australia three weeks later.

with wires

The Australian Financial Review