Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. may face greater scrutiny of their labor practices as Apple Inc.'s biggest supplier improves conditions at its Chinese plants after protests by rights activists.

Foxconn Technology Group, the world's biggest assembler of electronics products for other companies, has cut working hours and enhanced safety, the Fair Labor Association said in its first report following an audit of three of the manufacturer's facilities. Taipei-based Foxconn is ahead of schedule in its 15-month plan to improve working conditions, the association said.

Apple turned to the Washington-based labor monitoring group after suicides of Foxconn workers and an explosion at another supplier soiled public perceptions of the world's most valuable company. Foxconn pledged to cut hours to 49 a week by July 2013, raise wages and give employees more say in management, measures that are shifting activists' focus to rival companies.

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