Posted on 08/02/2011 10:17:09 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, known for assembling Apple's iPhones and iPads in China, plans to use more robots, with one report saying the company will use one million of them in the next three years, to cope with rising labour costs.
Foxconn's move highlights an increasing trend toward automation among Chinese companies as labour issues such as high-profile strikes and workers' suicides plague firms in sectors from vehicles to technology.
Contract manufacturers such as Foxconn, which also counts Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Nokia among its clients, are moving parts of their manufacturing to inland Chinese cities or other emerging markets. They are also boosting research and development investments to lift their thin margins. ...
Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou ... plans to use 1 million robots within three years, up from about 10,000 robots in use now and an expected 300,000 next year.
STRIKES, SUICIDES The technology group which makes Apple's iPhones and iPads plan to use more robots Foxconn, which has been plagued by a spate of workers' suicides in its Chinese factories since last year, plans to use the robots for simple assembly line procedures...
‘If they don't do this, they will have to move their factories elsewhere.’
...
Foxconn plans to buy a set-top plant in Mexico from Cisco Systems and is looking into investing more in Brazil, where it is already making mobile phone handsets.
It has bought LCD TV plants from Japan's Sony Corp in Mexico in 2009 and Slovakia in 2010 and is in cooperation talks with a number of top Japanese hi-tech firms, including Sharp, Canon and Hitachi.
Today, Hon Hai Precision's Taiwan shares rose 3.3 per cent, while Foxconn's cellphone maker unit Foxconn International's Hong Kong shares ended up 4.3 per cent.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Because labor is a commodity like any other and the ‘free trade’ mentality we have allowed them to flood the market with cheap labor and then get the factories moved there. At that point they can do whatever, especially raise prices to nearly what it was before (or beyond) since the burden of costs to relocate back here are higher.
It’s no different than if it’s jobs or ram or cars. Typically we’ve prevented other companies from market flooding as an unfair trade practice. We gave up all that happy stuff over the last 25-30 years entirely and we have what we have now.
Great move by us, eh?
“STRIKES, SUICIDES The technology group which makes Apple’s iPhones and iPads plan to use more robots Foxconn, which has been plagued by a spate of workers’ suicides in its Chinese factories “
At the time the suicides were a “issue” they were far below the global average.
Oh! So what is the global average?
Just don’t program the robots using self-organizing neural networks...
Absolutely. Remember that the Erie Canal was dug by hand using Irish immigrants. No need to do it that way anymore.
That's what man-made global warming scam is all about - how to cull "useless eaters"
I don’t remember off the top of my head....I just remember looking everything up and doing the math, at the time.
I did it because not one article I read about the Foxconn suicides discussed how they compared to the averages anywhere. Especially China. That made it sound like a made-up issue, to me.
We can't make that equipment here?
***Why can’t Apple use American robots in American factories?***
All those robots are Democrats. They are not programed to work, just protest.
Someone’s gotta make the robots.
“ration = ratio”. But, still an appropriate Freudian slip, no?”
Yes.
however, the numbers of folks entering the workforce has peaked in China and is close to peak in India, Vietnam, Indonesia. In another decade or so their working-age populations will decline. By 2020-2030 most of Asia bar Pakistan, Iran, uzbekistan, tajikistan, afghanistan and Cambodia-Laos will be middle class and not rely on cheap labor alone
robots would be "cheap enough" only by that period or later.
This would not affect the major part of Asia
However, this rise of machines will badly affect the poor in the Islamic world and in parts of Africa (not Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi or Tanzania and maybe parts of West Africa)
Right now it may be cheaper to just move production to other countries — but for socks, textiles etc. and that is happening now as China gets richer
that was a funny Freudian slip :) thanks!
not yet, but textiles are already relocating to Bangladesh etc.
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