Apple Manufacturer's 'No-Suicide' Pledge; Apple Almost Biggest Smartphone Maker in the World; and iPad Sales Increase

Every week, makes news with technology developments, business deals and, sometimes, controversies.

That’s where our weekly "Core Bytes" column on Apple comes in. We’ll relay the past week’s news highlights from our favorite backyard tech giant.

Controversies
Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer that assembles Apple’s iPhone, iPad and several other products, has come under fire for the high number of suicides committed by its workers. Ten employees killed themselves last year, leading its plants to install suicide nets, create a crisis line and even have employees sign a no-suicide pledge. An investigation into the working conditions at the factories revealed long hours outside China’s legal limit, low pay and poor working conditions.

Products
iPad users, meet Hitpad, a personalized device that personalizes interests into categories into “trending topics” such as news, tweets and videos. The new device, and iPad app of the week in more than 60 countries, can be downloaded for free at the iTunes store.

Need a new computer but short on cash? Apple’s online store just began selling several of its refurbished models, complete with price cuts of $150. The 13.3-inch MacBook Air was reduced in price from $999-$849.

Business Deals and Developments
The race is on. Apple is closing in on Samsung as the largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world. This year, Apple has captured 18.7 percent of the market, compared with 15.7 percent for the first quarter last year. Samsung, by contrast, holds 24.3 percent of the market, compared with 38.3 percent last year. It’s the right time for growth: The worldwide smartphone market increased by 79.7 percent this year.

The first iPad-only publication, The Daily, lost $10 million during its first quarter. While The Daily has had 800,000 downloads since its launch in early February, many of those costs were associated with initiative investment, according to News Corp.

The big Apple is now 35 in the list of most-profitable companies in the U.S., according to Fortune 500’s recently released rankings. This year, Apple climbed 21 spots on the list, with a reported $65 billion in revenue. The country with the largest revenue worldwide was Wal-Mart, with a reported $421 billion.

On Thursday, the iPad 2 launched in China with three black and three white WI-FI-capable models. Much like its launch the week before in Japan, lines of customers flocked to the Beijing flagship store in time for its 8 a.m. opening.