The New Industrial Giants Make Small Products

The term industrial giant brings to mind steel foundries on a vast scale, ship building, production lines of cars, and vast quantities of raw materials being turned into the infrastructure, appliances, and technology of modern life. If you ponder the history of these industries you think of Victorian era factories and workers moving to the cities from the countryside slowly changing into factories learning to deal with new unions and workers groups and slowly changing to the arrangements we have now. It seems like a process that has taken place and is ended.

What about the people and companies who build computers and phones and other technologies? What's happening around the world were our high-tech gizmos are being made?

The Man Who Makes Your iPhone in Business Week looks at one company and one person but along the way takes a look at the changes that are happening in Chinese factories. It's remarkably similar but on a different time scale. Terry Gou won't be the last industrial tycoon. More industries and more tycoons will appear. But his story and the issues his companies are facing is an insite into the current situation for millions of workers around the world.