Chinese workers who often spend more than 60 hours per week assembling iPhones and iPads for Apple will have their overtime curbed and their pay increased following an audit.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook is in an enviable position — market-leading products, a $98bn (€74bn) warchest and a stock price that seems gravity-defying.

Foxconn Technology Group, the top maker of Apple iPhones and iPads whose factories are under scrutiny over labour practices, has raised the wages of its Chinese workers by 16%-25%, the third pay rise since 2010.

Apple has announced that an independent group, the Fair Labor Association (FLA), has started inspecting the working conditions in the Chinese factories where its iPads and iPhones are assembled, a move inspired by the spate of bad press for its factories.