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Foxconn, the company at the centre of allegations it
exploits the workers it uses to build iPods for Apple has been named the second
largest IT company by BusinessWeek.
The
list, compiled from computerised information of 10,000 publicly traded
corporations around the world lists Hon Hai Precision Industry as the second
largest IT company in the world. Foxconn is a registered trade name of Hon Hai .
To compile the list of the world's top 100 IT corporations, BusinessWeek
says it began with financial data from Standard & Poor's and then added
non-US technology companies from overseas.
To qualify, companies had to have revenues of at least US$500
million. Companies whose stock price has dropped more than 75%, whose sales
shrank, or where other developments raised questions about future performance,
were eliminated from contention, says BusinessWeek.
It also dropped some monopolistic phone companies which it
saw as having an unfair advantage.
What was left, it ranked on four criteria: return on equity,
shareholder return and revenue growth (which were given equal weight), and
total revenues (which was weighted).
Foxconn has caused a publi relations nightmare for Apple Computer after allegations it exploits the workers in a Shenzen factory where the company makes Apple's iPod devices. Foxconn initially threatened legal action against publishers of the story, but subsequently admitted it makes workers do an extra 80 hours overtime per month while the local labour aws allow only 36 hours.
The PR embarassment though was that Foxconn claimed that Apple's investigation into its work practices gave it a clean bill of health.
In the BusinessWeek Top 100 list, Mexican telecommunications company America Movil was listed
in the top spot. Apple ranked fourth behind another OEM manufacturer, Taiwan's High
Tech Computer.
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