Foxconn - page 19

Described as an “explosive development in the tablet market,” the holiday season could finally see a two-way race for consumers’ attention as the iPad and Amazon’s Kindle Fire vie for nearly 90 percent of sales. In a survey of North Americans intending to buy a tablet, 65 percent said they plan to buy an iPad, while 22 percent said they would pick the Kindle Fire, according to ChangeWave Research results released Monday. Those percentages may look disparate, but the Kindle Fire is still proving to be a shot across the bow of iPad… and it could soon become a full broadside.

Its first generation Kindle Fire hasn’t even launched hit store shelves yet, but already Amazon has the Foxconn factory in China knocking up its successor, the Kindle Fire 2, with plans to ship the device during the first half of 2012.

Gizmodo’s been locked out of Apple events indefinitely since they bought a stolen iPhone 4 prototype, but that doesn’t mean they are without resources to get scoops: they sent a spy into Foxconn’s new factory in Brazil, and walked out with proof that Apple will unveil a cheaper iPhone 4 sometime soon with the model N90A.

Pictures after the jump!

If you’re expecting to see iPads with a “Assembled in Brazil” marker engraved across the aluminum back starting next year, think again. Brazilian officials are now claiming that “crazy demands” by Foxconn could totally nix the $12 billion deal, keeping iPhone and iPad manufacturing firmly rooted in Asia.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU7iCNIumpc

While the possibility of an iPhone 5 with an all-new design has been quashed in recent rumors, case makers in China are still confident that Apple will have a surprise up its sleeve come October 4. So confident, in fact, that you’ll be surprised at how many iPhone 5 cases are already available.

Apple finally sent out invitations today for its next iPhone event, and everyone is wondering if we’ll see the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, or both. Many are starting to feel that there will be only one iPhone unveiled this year, but that remains to be seen.

We have been seeing tons of purported iPhone 5 cases leaked from case manufacturers overseas. The reason? Apple hardware manufacturer Foxconn seems to have lost an iPhone 5 prototype.

Foxconn workers at the company’s plant in Yantai, a city in the northeastern Shandong province, have had to evacuate the building today as another fire and possible explosion engulfed parts of the factory in smoke. Thankfully, it seems no one has been injured.

Apple has responded to concerns from environmental activist groups in China by meeting with The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) in Beijing. IPE has called the gesture a “positive sign” that Apple is attentive to environmental concerns regarding its suppliers overseas.

According to Macworld, IPE and other groups have accused Apple of using Chinese manufacturers that pollute the environment, even going so far as to say that such manufacturers are responsible for a rise in cancer rates among locals.

Apple’s iPad will soon be spawning in Brazil, according to the country’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Aloizio Mercadante. Until now, the device has been produced solely by Foxconn in China, but by December Brazilian iPads will be hitting the market.

We’re all eagerly anticipating the launch of Apple’s iPhone 5, and while the Cupertino company is still yet to announce its release date, the device’s unveiling looks to be imminent as production is ramped up to 150,000 units per day.

Let’s just take a few minutes away from the stories surrounding Steve Jobs and Tim Cook and talk about the iPad 3. We know it’s not going to launch this year — I’d have put money on that from day one — but according to one report it could go into production as early as October… without Samsung on-board.

Apple has reportedly turned to Samsung and Chimei Innolux for iPad 2 displays having suspended orders from LG Display due to quality issues.

To those of you who scoffed at Steve Wozniak when he said that machines will one day take over as superior beings, leaving us humans as the “dogs of the house,” take note: It seems Woz’ vision is very much becoming a reality for some Foxconn workers, who are set to be replaced by robots over the next three years.

Foxconn Electronics currently assembles a whole host of Apple gear, and apparently persuaded the Cupertino company recently to make it the sole producer of a third iPad expected to launch later this year. It seems that’s not enough for the China-based manufacturer, however. It has no intention of being as loyal to Apple in return. According to industry sources, it will also produce what could be one of the iPad’s biggest rivals: an Amazon Kindle tablet.

Following recent rumors that Apple may be adding a second manufacturer to its iPad supply chain for the launch of a third device, Foxconn Electronics has reportedly “exerted its efforts to protect its orders” and has “persuaded” Apple not to shift production of the device to a second contractor.

Apple’s iPhone 5, expected to launch later this year, will be “thinner and lighter” than the current device, and will feature a much improved camera, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Companies within Apple’s supply chain are currently preparing materials for the production of the iPhone 5, which they believe is likely to launch this September… but it may not be launching alone. Instead, it will be accompanied by the iPad 3.

Remember the three Foxconn employees arrested back in December for leaking the design of the iPad 2 to third-party case makers? They’ve been found guilty, and they’re going to prison.

Following an explosion on May 20th that killed 3 people and injured 15 others, Foxconn has today reopened its iPad 2 polishing workshops in Chengdu after an investigation into what caused the explosion has now been concluded.

Yesterday, we reported that Apple had taken the unusual step of both suing and filing-to-dismiss its own lawsuit against the Fei Lam, the teenager who sold Steve Wozniak along with hundreds of others their own white iPhone 4 conversion kits.

That was weird enough. Even weirder? This is the first Fei Lam himself has heard about the case being settled.

Foxconn’s public relations issues have just collided. A week after an explosion rocked Foxconn’s iPad 2 production facility in Chengdu, China, an employee of that facility has committed suicide.

The news keeps on getting worse for Apple in the wake of the Chengdu Foxconn explosion. Besides the ghastly loss of three lives and the dozens of wounded Foxconn employees, the explosion could cost Apple half a million iPad 2s. Given existing supply problems, that’s a number of lost iPads Apple can ill afford to lose.

The tragic explosion at a iPad 2 polishing plant in Chengdu has already killed three and wounded dozens, and the closing of that facility could affect iPad 2 supply by up to 30%.

In the short term, iPad 2 supply is likely to get even worse, as Foxconn has just closed all of its polishing plants across China for investigation.

The unexpected explosion that rocked Foxconn’s Chengdu facility on Friday killing three has been blamed upon a build up of combustible dust at the iPad 2 polishing plant. As a two-week old report on factory worker conditions makes clear, though, the dangers of allowing such dust to build-up has been brought to the attention of Foxconn and Apple before.

While the impact of deaths and injuries from the Foxconn explosions should not be minimized, analysts Monday discounted the effect on iPad 2 production as minimal and ‘temporary.’ But is a 20-30% decrease in production when Apple is already struggling to fulfill demand really minimal?