Foxconn plans to assemble Apple's iPad in Brazil by end of November

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn is reportedly considering a $12 billion investment in new facilities in Brazil, and also apparently plans to begin building iPad units in South America by this November.



Foxconn, which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple, is said by Brazil's president to be considering the $12 billion commitment toward new facilities, according to Retuers. President Dilma Rousseff said in a visit to Beijing that the Brazilian government is reviewing Foxconn's proposed plans.



Separately, Brazil's science and technology minister also said that Foxconn plans to begin assembling Apple's iPad at plants in Brazil by the end of November. The assembly would apparently take place at existing facilities, and would not be a part of the proposed $12 billion investment.



However, since Apple is a major partner of Foxconn, any investment from Foxconn in Brazil would likely have a future impact on the assembly of Apple products.



Talk of Apple products being assembled in Brazil gained traction late last year, when the eighth richest man in the world attempted to convince the iPad maker to assemble its products in the South American country. Eike Batista was looking to court businesses like Apple to fill in 90 square miles of space at the Port of Acu.



Foxconn's assembly factories in China have been the subject of much criticism, and Apple was even forced to make a public statement last year after a number of suicides occurred at the main Foxconn plant in Shenzhen, China.



Apple conducts an annual audit of its overseas partners and their factories. This year, that audit found one facility in the Far East that employed 42 underage workers, prompting Apple to terminate business with the facility.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 53
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Interesting. I wonder what the average cost to manufacture and assemble in Brazil versus China would be... Surely Brazil is not cheaper in this respect. Maybe this is being done to avoid import tariffs, or because the Brazilians are offering partial or full ownership of the facility in exchange for the move? The last piece of the puzzle for Apple is to own the manufacturing process.
  • Reply 2 of 53
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Interesting. I wonder what the average cost to manufacture and assemble in Brazil versus China would be... Surely Brazil is not cheaper in this respect. Maybe this is being done to avoid import tariffs, or because the Brazilians are offering partial or full ownership of the facility in exchange for the move? The last piece of the puzzle for Apple is to own the manufacturing process.



    I seem to recall reading something about a Brazilian billionaire trying to entice manufacturing of Apple gear there a few months back.
  • Reply 3 of 53
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    I seem to recall reading something about a Brazilian billionaire trying to entice manufacturing of Apple gear there a few months back.



    Eike Batista mentioned in this article.



    I hope it happens since there is a huge underage worker problem in Brasil, mostly in agriculture but since Apple has a very low tolerance for such practices it may begin to decrease the prevalence in other industries as well.
  • Reply 4 of 53
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Asia, South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, ... I don't really care where they build it but they need another factory since iPad orders are still backlogged.
  • Reply 5 of 53
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Interesting. I wonder what the average cost to manufacture and assemble in Brazil versus China would be... Surely Brazil is not cheaper in this respect. Maybe this is being done to avoid import tariffs, or because the Brazilians are offering partial or full ownership of the facility in exchange for the move? The last piece of the puzzle for Apple is to own the manufacturing process.



    Probably a combo of shipping costs, tariffs, perhaps also cuts offered to bring in jobs and simply just spreading things out to avoid another tsunami etc screwing with all their business by cutting off outgoing shipments from the area.
  • Reply 6 of 53
    modemode Posts: 163member
    Apple needs to bring the manufacturing back to the new Canada/US Superstate (see RCC). The 'Henry Ford Rule' of economics is sustainable - unlike the collapsing Wall Street experiment.
  • Reply 7 of 53
    alienzedalienzed Posts: 393member
    Great, cut down more of the rain forest, that's WAY better than paying underage workers who would likely otherwise starve...
  • Reply 8 of 53
    Maybe Brazil can make me an iPad 2 without this damn light-leak issue.
  • Reply 9 of 53
    I may be wrong but I believe that a company which doesn't manufacture in Brazil has to pay some huge tariff to sell there, hence, Apple products aren't sold in Brazil. Brazil is one of several rapidly growing markets (referred to as the BRIC countries... Brazil, Russia, India and China). Apple has staked a lot on China, just opened a store in Moscow and this move should allow them to start marketing in Brazil. That would be a big deal. Maybe someone in Brazil can confirm?
  • Reply 10 of 53
    xsuxsu Posts: 401member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mode View Post


    Apple needs to bring the manufacturing back to the new Canada/US Superstate (see RCC). The 'Henry Ford Rule' of economics is sustainable - unlike the collapsing Wall Street experiment.



    Not until some Amercian firm starts making the components, like that screen, within this superstate.
  • Reply 11 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    Asia, South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, ... I don't really care where they build it but they need another factory since iPad orders are still backlogged.



    The problem may not be assembly, it may well be the ability to buy some part(s). You can only assemble as fast as your weakest supplier can supply. Since apple pushes so many limits it may not be a problem they can just throw money at.
  • Reply 12 of 53
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mode View Post


    Apple needs to bring the manufacturing back to the new Canada/US Superstate (see RCC). The 'Henry Ford Rule' of economics is sustainable - unlike the collapsing Wall Street experiment.



    The day Foxconn finds the labour in the US sufficiently cheap enough will longer after it will matter for the American way of life.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alienzed View Post


    Great, cut down more of the rain forest, that's WAY better than paying underage workers who would likely otherwise starve...



    According to Wikipedia "The climate in ItajaÃ* is humid in winter and dry in summer. In summer temperatures can reach 40°C (Temperature reached in 2009) and in winter they can get as low as 4°C.Â? That doesnÂ?t seem like a rain forest climate to me.



    If that doesnÂ?t convince you check out the coordinates of ItajaÃ*.
  • Reply 13 of 53
    nkalunkalu Posts: 315member
    Why in Brazil? Why not here in the US? We need the jobs here.
  • Reply 14 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by All Day Breakfast View Post


    I may be wrong but I believe that a company which doesn't manufacture in Brazil has to pay some huge tariff to sell there, hence, Apple products aren't sold in Brazil. Brazil is one of several rapidly growing markets (referred to as the BRIC countries... Brazil, Russia, India and China). Apple has staked a lot on China, just opened a store in Moscow and this move should allow them to start marketing in Brazil. That would be a big deal. Maybe someone in Brazil can confirm?



    Apple products are sold here in Brazil, through autorized resellers and the Apple Online Store (http://store.apple.com/br). After iPhone 3G, Apple products have become a lot more common here but are still expensive.



    The Brazilian government is offering a 9,25% reduction in some taxes to attract tablet makers - that includes Samsung and Motorola.



    We also hope that with this move Apple products will get cheaper for us - they are talking about assembling iPads here, but that also can include iPhones/iPods and Macs in the (near) future.
  • Reply 15 of 53
    rhyderhyde Posts: 294member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nkalu View Post


    Why in Brazil? Why not here in the US? We need the jobs here.



    Do we need the low-paying assembly jobs that are assembling iPads?

    We're talking a couple dollars a day here, keep in mind.
  • Reply 16 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alienzed View Post


    Great, cut down more of the rain forest, that's WAY better than paying underage workers who would likely otherwise starve...



    The Amazon rain forest is way far from JundiaÃ*/SP, where the Foxconn facility is - ~1800miles.
  • Reply 17 of 53
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rhyde View Post


    Do we need the low-paying assembly jobs that are assembling iPads?

    We're talking a couple dollars a day here, keep in mind.



    Legal minimum wage in Brasil is about $2 USD per hour, € 1.4 per hour
  • Reply 18 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nkalu View Post


    Why in Brazil? Why not here in the US? We need the jobs here.



    That's how Steve started: him & Woz assembled Apple I's by hand in his parent's garage. That was Apple's first assembly line. Later, Macs were designed and assembled in California, as were the original NeXT cubes.
  • Reply 19 of 53
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rhyde View Post


    Do we need the low-paying assembly jobs that are assembling iPads?

    We're talking a couple dollars a day here, keep in mind.



    Yeah the reason they're not made here is because it would increase the production cost a good bit. I'd be willing to pay, say, $50 more for an iPad that was assembled in the U.S., but I don't know how many other people are.
  • Reply 20 of 53
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    That's how Steve started: him & Woz assembled Apple I's by hand in his parent's garage. That was Apple's first assembly line. Later, Macs were designed and assembled in California, as were the original NeXT cubes.



    I can’t find the video of the NeXT Computer automated factory that was built in the US. I think it used to be on YouTube.





    edit: There we go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb7foG1rtlA
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