Nintendo, Sony and Apple are among the companies investigating working conditions at Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer that runs the largest factory in the world.
Ten employees at the company’s giant complex in Shenzhen, China, which employs around 350,000 mostly migrant workers, have committed suicide over the past few months.
Foxconn assembles a wide range of consumer electronics including PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, iPhone and iPad, and many of its major clients are concerned that their images could be tarnished by the recent deaths.
The panicked companies are now trying to ascertain whether the manufacturer is meeting their established guidelines for working conditions at factories to which they outsource business, reports The Times.
Foxconn parent company Hon Hai Precision Instruments said today that it will raise salaries at its mainland Chinese factories by 20 per cent. Workers at its Shenzhen plant currently receive a basic wage of £90 per month.
In April Microsoft said that it was investigating allegations of poor working conditions at one of the Chinese factories that manufacture its PC and Xbox products.