A further increase (to 66%), subject to employee performance, could enter into effect from 1 October.

The decision comes following the series of suicide attempts at one of the firm’s productions plant in Longhua, where so far this year 16 people have attempted suicide, resulting in 12 deaths.

Foxconn, a major supplier for the likes of Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Sony among others, employs more than 800,000 workers in China.

The firm’s Taiwanese parent company Hon Hai Precision Industry, is said to have stated that the decision to raise wages was not a direct response to the suicides.

Apple, Dell, and HP are all said to be looking into Foxconn's working conditions. But for brands such as Apple a ‘divorce’ would be painful. Its order book for iPad deliveries is already behind while orders keep piling up.

It may be that end-users and suppliers will have to share the cost of bringing the working conditions in production plants to acceptable and responsible levels.

How this decision will impact on the contracts Foxconn has with its existing clients remains uncertain. This could be the IT industry’s ‘Nike moment’.