For many people, the iPad is a fetish that must be present among its technological equipment. More than a need to use, in some cases, there is a need to display this elegant element that shines and is always given attention. But on what grounds is made in China? Here labor is very cheap, that's true, but is it just for that? In this article, we'll see a rarely seen side of the elements necessary for the construction of this tablet that has so many secrets, intrigue and dark sides as virtues, qualities, and outstanding skills.

The iPad is an electronic device that, like any mobile device, used in its construction, aluminum, glass, plastics, semiconductors, printed circuit boards and many other things that users do not perceive, after being dazzled by the beauty of its lines and the definition of the crystal screens. In developing the components that comprise it, using many toxic chemicals, some heavy metals and a significant amount of a rare item: rare earths. It is very clear and very obvious to assume that wages in China is about ten times smaller than a U.S. or Europe, in addition, environmental regulations in China are still far from optimal in terms of material handling toxic emissions or greenhouse gases. Depending on the scale of countries that respect the environment, developed by Yale University (EPI Ranking), China is ranked 116, worse than Iran, Sudan and Congo. That is, the manufacturing cost is cheap by any measure and analyze not only due to cheap labor as many people



It is no mystery in the technology world that Apple is very tight and impervious to share with the press secrets of its products or raw materials that compose them. For example, one of the elements on which the source is unknown is the front glass, which is known for being very resistant to shocks and the manufacturer is only a presumption or suspicion. Other elements are difficult to find in the world and involved in building the iPad, are the rare earths. The conjectures are many on the use of these and other materials. Professor of Engineering at Cambridge, Dr. Tim Coombs estimates that lanthanum (La, number 57 in the periodic table) is involved in the construction of its Lithium - Polymer and rare earth may have a prominent role among the elements that color and shine to your new screen. In turn, the magnets located on the sides of the iPhone (and since version 2), are possibly alloys of neodymium, the basic element to polish the front glass is cerium oxide and as such, many elements of this nature are used in the manufacture of the tablet. World production of rare earths in 2010 was 136,100 tonnes and 45% was for industrial magnets, crystals and polishing techniques.



The use of rare earth in building a team is as massive as the iPad, brings to light some proposals that few have considered. One is that China controls over 95% of the global supply of rare earths and has repeatedly slashed export quotas, or price has risen disproportionately. Another is already beginning to rumble the voices on a need to start producing, in a serious and important, rare earths in the western world to not always depend on China and its vagaries. While there are companies like Molycorp in California and Lynas Corp. in Australia who intend to commence mining exploration for the extraction of rare earths, as always, the long-term economic factor is a key element holding back any kind of undertaking. That is, the exploration, extraction and production of this raw material is not a cheap business and global demand may not justify the expense necessary for its implementation. Even more so with China the market price regulator, having the largest share of world production.



Another possible source of extraction of this element, which today is on the lips of many in the tech world, is recycling, ie, e-waste or electronic waste may provide a source of recovery of rare earths used in these teams and have outlived their usefulness. Some Japanese companies engaged in this work are reporting interesting announcements rare earth recovery while other U.S. companies in the same field, note that the concentrations are very small electronic waste and that implies the need for extraction methods very efficient on large volumes of products. That is, for some companies recycling is not an economically viable business. For now, there are many options to follow depending on the manufacturing China and Apple is one of the many companies that are doing it. Therefore, beyond a question of operating costs, we must put our eyes on some special materials and that China has the world can have, but that has yet to develop policies (if long-term) production at times less abundant than the investment.

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