Hon Hai is planning to diversify its business away from producing Apple devices by signing an agreement with Indonesia to make and sell handsets in that country, reports Reuters. A Hon Hai spokesman said that the company, which derives about 60 to 70 percent of its revenue from manufacturing work for Apple, hopes to sign the agreement next month. Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn, is one of… → Read More
Microsoft just scored a coup on the patent royalty front, with a new deal with Taiwanese phone maker, Hon Hai, which owns Foxconn. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will get paid a flat fee per Android and Chrome-based device that Foxconn makes. And there are a lot of those. A whopping 40 percent of the world’s phones come from the firm’s China-based factories. Foxconn is an ODM… → Read More
A confidential presentation that describes a Shenzhen-based manufacturer’s 2013 product plans points to a few interesting bits of information about the iPhone 5S launch in June 2013 and Foxconn’s role as manufacturer of record for Apple products. → Read More
Less than two weeks ago, shares of Apple slipped after an announcement by iPhone manufacturer Foxconn that it was freezing hiring at several Chinese factories ignited concerns about falling demand for the Cupertino-based company’s devices. As it turns out, there were several other possible reasons for the freeze, including the glut of workers returning after breaking for Chinese New Year and… → Read More
Apple’s shares were hit after investors worried that a hiring freeze at Foxconn’s China plants is related to slowing iPhone 5 sales. Foxconn suspended recruitment at its factories in Zhengzhou and Shenzhen and it also reportedly postponed the construction of a new factory. Though this may point to slackening demand for the iPhone 5, it could also mean that Foxconn is preparing to adjust its… → Read More
Foxconn, the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing giant that works with companies like Apple, Samsung, and Sony, has confirmed that it is being investigated on charges of bribery by Chinese authorities. At least one of the Foxconn’s employees has been detained after being accused of accepting bribes from suppliers. → Read More
Apple is said to be considering a move that will bring Mac mini production to the U.S., through manufacturing partner Foxconn, according to supply chain sources speaking to Digitimes. Foxconn already has an estimated 15 “operating bases” in the U.S. according to Digitimes. The Mac mini is indeed a good candidate for a U.S.-made Mac. → Read More
Much has been said about a potential Apple TV set in the past few years, but it would appear that a source out of Foxconn has said that testing is already underway on Apple’s HDTV. The source, speaking under the condition of anonymity, explained that Apple is using LCD panels ranging between 46 inches and 55 inches.
However, don’t get too excited just yet. According to FocusTaiwan, which spoke… → Read More
Your next Mac could be assembled in America. Apple is assembling at least some of the new, ultra-thin iMacs within the USA. The backside stamp containing the serial code and FCC logo generally says “Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China.” But several owners of the new model quickly discovered their machine was made in the good ol’ US of A. → Read More
In one of the oddest cases of an April Fool’s joke coming true, Digitimes is reporting that Foxconn is looking at opening LCD TV plants in LA or Detroit. These plants will focus on automated production lines and build mostly LCD TVs as too much hand-work is required to assemble more complex mobile electronics. → Read More
Electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn has denied earlier reports that thousands of workers went on strike on Friday at a plant that assembles Apple’s latest iPhone — reportedly causing production of the device to be “paralysed”. Today Foxconn said no such strike took place and claimed production of the iPhone 5 is on schedule, Reuters is reporting. → Read More
Richard Lai is reporting that over 2,000 employees of the Taiyan Foxconn plant rioted last night, causing damage on the factory campus after a guard allegedly hit a worked at 10pm.
The Taiyuan plant is notorious for their mandatory overtime requirements. Quoth Lai: → Read More
Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, a Foxconn Technology subsidiary, reported a $226.07 million loss, its highest-ever first-half net loss. Even though it is the largest contract maker of mobile phones in the world, it is largely dependent on the results of its partners. Important clients such as HTC, Nokia, Huawei, Sony Mobile and Motorola posted very disappointing results. As a result, Foxconn… → Read More
Mike Daisey, noted fabulist, is back at his original theatre in DC, The Woolly Mammoth where he is holding encore presentations of his debunked – and now slightly rewritten – show about working conditions at Foxconn. Gone are the guards with guns, the fake crippled man who touched the totemic iPad, and the real/fake translator named Cathy. Daisey replaced those stock characters with a bit of self… → Read More
Amazon’s Kindle Fire has done a remarkable job carving out its own niche in the tablet space, and it seems a sequel is already barreling down the pipeline for a release in the coming months. That new tablet may not be alone though, as rumblings of yet another Amazon hardware project have started up once again.
After conferring with their sources, Bloomberg reported late yesterday evening that… → Read More
According to a brief in the Want China Times, workers in the Foxconn plant in Chengdu rioted in a male dormitory, throwing bottles, trash, and furniture after plant security came to the dormitory to investigate a thief. → Read More
Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn saw its profits fall to $509 million from $1.19 billion last quarter. Chairman Terry Gou said this quarter was particularly affected by Foxconn’s recent image problem. Improvements in wages, worker benefits, and education accounted for some of the loss, although new iPad and iPhone 4S manufacturing bolstered income last quarter.
As a reaction to… → Read More
In the hullabaloo over Mike Daisey lying about meeting injured workers, the spotlight turned from actual employment problems in Asia onto the face of the orotund and penitent former colonialist. Now that the news cycle has passed, we’re no longer interested in the topic of Chinese manufacturing and, judging by the positive response to my April Fools’ post on Sunday, the world now understands… → Read More
After a highly visible meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Foxconn’s founder Terry Gou announced plans to open a sprawling Foxconn factory in Guthrie Center, Iowa, essentially replacing the approximately 2,000 residents of that small town with workers from in and around Iowa. The company will hire 300,000 employees for the new factory, about 10% of Iowa’s population.
The plant will include… → Read More
It seems that noted firebrand Mike Daisey’s story – the one about the crippled, underaged factory workers who unspooled tales of woe and torture at the hands of their evil Foxconn masters at Apple’s behest – was at least partially fabricated. He was outed as, at best, a bad journalist and at worst a fraud. To be clear, he’s a monologist and playwright and had no business telling this story (just… → Read More
At over a million digital listens, “Mr. Daisey Goes To The Apple Factory” is This American Life’s most popular episode. That’s no small feat for one of the world’s most well-known radio shows. When it aired, it set off yet another firestorm of controversy regarding the ethics of Apple (and other large tech companies) using cheap Chinese labor through major manufacturers like Foxconn. Mr Daisey… → Read More
There are two sayings on the back of every Apple product: Designed By Apple in California and Assembled in China. These statements attempt to say that even though the products might be assembled in a different country, Apple is an American company — a fact Apple proclaimed loudly today with a new web page titled Creating jobs through innovation.
Apple has been under fire lately regarding its… → Read More
A local court in the Guangdong province of China has apparently ruled against Apple in its ongoing case against Proview over the iPad trademark, with the decision that distributors should stop selling iPad tablets in China.
The news is a step in the opposite direction from last week, when it looked like Apple was gaining the upper hand over Proview, with a court ruling in Apple’s favor, and new… → Read More
I was walking home last week and the entire street – and some of the sidewalk – was blocked by large fire trucks and a gaggle of firemen in full regalia. The ladder truck was already planted firmly on the asphalt, ready to send a stream of water soaring over nearby apartment buildings and more trucks were coming, clogging the one-way street further.
Convinced I was about to see an inferno, I… → Read More
Thirty spokes meet at a nave;
Because of the hole we may use the wheel.
Clay is moulded into a vessel;
Because of the hollow we may use the cup.
Walls are built around a hearth;
Because of the doors we may use the house.
Thus tools come from what exists,
But use from what does not.
- Tao De Ching
There’s a carousel in a small Cape Cod town that we visited this summer and the kids rode… → Read More
Foxconn responded to yesterday’s kerfuffle about the CEO of Foxconn, Terry Gou, commenting that he cared for “a million animals” – namely his employees. They said it was an off-the-cuff remark, similar to saying that managing is like “herding cats” as opposed to suggesting that Foxconn employees walk on all fours and root in the mud. Big difference, clearly.
The statement is below. I love the… → Read More
While I suspect there’s a lot lost in translation here,Foxconn chairman Terry Gou made a wildly distasteful joke this week at the Taipei Zoo, saying (according to WantChinaTimes): “Hon Hai (Foxconn) has a workforce of over one million worldwide and as human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache.”
The comments came during a presentation at the zoo where the… → Read More
Shenzhen is a town of migrants. The estimated median ages is between 15 and 25 and the old and battered sits in wild contrast with the brand new. Even in the few years between my last visit and this one, the city has changed so drastically that I barely recognized it. The last time I was here I imagined the place as a cross between a favela and Blade Runner, high and low tech mashed together, the… → Read More
The entrepreneur was fuming over the phone. He is arguably angry: he had heard of a company had just been raided on trumped up charges and I spoke to him one evening after he returned to the UK.
“Chinese people basically believe that their success in manufacturing is because Chinese people are so smart,” he said. “But why does the world get stuff made in China? Just one reason: it’s… → Read More
Driving from the Foxconn Factory, down the road from the main gate, we spotted a truck full of pigs in an open-sided container. They were huge, porcine pink, and surprisingly clean. They were still alive – but wouldn’t be for long – and they were, we could only presume, destined for the bellies of some of the company’s 400,000 workers.
As the truck trundled along the well-paved road, I flicked… → Read More
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