Chengdu

"Supporters of the R&D hubs say the negative view of them reflects the insecurities of engineers in Cupertino, who were losing their power as more decision-making got done in China. Before the hubs were built, Apple had been sending so many engineers to China on temporary trips that Cupertino convinced United Airlines to begin direct flights from San Francisco to Chengdu, three times a week, arguing that Apple would regularly buy enough of the thirty-six first-class seats to make it profitable. The 6,857-mile flight became United’s longest nonstop flight. Two years later, Apple again convinced United to begin flying nonstop—to Hangzhou, a tech hub on the outskirts of Shanghai. “Hangzhou is a bit of a schlepp from Shanghai,” says a former Apple executive. “Yes, you can take a bullet train, but for all the American guys getting off the plane from Cupertino, navigating the train station is kind of complicated. So Apple basically said to United, ‘Look, you put up a flight to Hangzhou and we’ll fill it for you.’ ” Apple’s signature line had long been that its products were “designed in California,” but the hubs began to indicate otherwise. China’s influence was growing, and as the hubs performed more work, the engineers there would openly question the need for so many of their counterparts to constantly fly in from America."

"By the end of 2010, the number of attempted suicides rose to eighteen. Foxconn became a household name for all the wrong reasons, and Apple was accused of “iSlavery.” Whatever his other skills, Terry Gou didn’t exactly come out of this crisis looking like a media-savvy CEO. He installed nets all around the factories, to prevent workers from jumping to their deaths, and compelled workers to sign a pledge not to commit suicide. Describing his hopes for the new factories in Zhengzhou and Chengdu, Gou said that workers living inland and closer to their families would feel less anxiety. “There will be hospitals, there will be other facilities, there will be sources of entertainment,” Gou said in September 2010. “And if people still decide to kill themselves, then no one can blame me.”"