Apple...doesn't actually make most of its products. It hires manufacturing specialists -- mainly companies from Taiwan that have extensive operations in China -- to assemble its gadgets based on Apple's designs... A person familiar with Apple's plans said yesterday its main suppliers for the iPhone include Foxconn International Holdings Ltd., the Hong Kong unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co [Foxconn's customers include also Motorola and Nokia]...and Catcher Technology Co [Other iPhone suppliers in Taiwan include Unimicron Technology Corp]...Outsourcing isn't always an unambiguous plus for companies. Apple came under criticism last year after a British media report alleged Hon Hai was underpaying and otherwise mistreating the employees who make iPods. Apple investigated Hon Hai's working conditions and said it found minor violations, which Hon Hai has since said it has remedied.