Foxconn explosion won't greatly affect iPad 2 production for Apple
An explosion last week at an iPad 2 production plant in Chengdu, China, is not expected to have a major impact on Apple, as less than 20 percent of production volume is said to have come from the plant.
Analyst Maynard Um with UBS Investment Research said in a note to investors on Monday that the Chengdu plant is considered a secondary location for iPad 2 production by Foxconn. He said checks with supply chain sources indicated that less than 20 percent of iPad volume comes from the Chengdu facility.
"Although the issue is unlikely to help supply issues to meet strong global demand, we see this issue as temporary and note there are few companies in our coverage that have as strong an end demand picture," Um wrote.
Supporting that same notion on Monday was DigiTimes, which also downplayed the impact of last week's explosion on production capacity. That report claimed that less than 30 percent of total iPad production came from the Chengdu plant.
And China Times (via Google Translate) reported on Sunday that Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn, met with key suppliers following the disaster to ensure that it would not lead to production issues. Gou reportedly said that the explosion will not affect iPad 2 production, nor "new products" like the next-generation iPhone.
The death toll from last week's explosion now stands at three, while 15 people were injured in the incident that occurred on Friday. The explosion occurred in a Foxconn "polishing plant" around 7 p.m., and the Chengdu Municipal government said foul play was not involved.
Foxconn issued a statement on the incident to say that it is fully cooperating with an ongoing police investigation, and that production has been suspended at the facility. Apple also commented on the matter, stating that the company is "deeply saddened" by the tragedy, and that it is working with Foxconn to investigate.
Analyst Maynard Um with UBS Investment Research said in a note to investors on Monday that the Chengdu plant is considered a secondary location for iPad 2 production by Foxconn. He said checks with supply chain sources indicated that less than 20 percent of iPad volume comes from the Chengdu facility.
"Although the issue is unlikely to help supply issues to meet strong global demand, we see this issue as temporary and note there are few companies in our coverage that have as strong an end demand picture," Um wrote.
Supporting that same notion on Monday was DigiTimes, which also downplayed the impact of last week's explosion on production capacity. That report claimed that less than 30 percent of total iPad production came from the Chengdu plant.
And China Times (via Google Translate) reported on Sunday that Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn, met with key suppliers following the disaster to ensure that it would not lead to production issues. Gou reportedly said that the explosion will not affect iPad 2 production, nor "new products" like the next-generation iPhone.
The death toll from last week's explosion now stands at three, while 15 people were injured in the incident that occurred on Friday. The explosion occurred in a Foxconn "polishing plant" around 7 p.m., and the Chengdu Municipal government said foul play was not involved.
Foxconn issued a statement on the incident to say that it is fully cooperating with an ongoing police investigation, and that production has been suspended at the facility. Apple also commented on the matter, stating that the company is "deeply saddened" by the tragedy, and that it is working with Foxconn to investigate.
Comments
I'm glad Apple has at least acknowledged that problems exist at the Foxconn plant they use, but they need to do more to correct those problems. And they need to start now.
LOL! Three dead, dozens seriously injured, but we will still have our shiny gizmos.
I'm glad Apple has at least acknowledged that problems exist at the Foxconn plant they use, but they need to do more to correct those problems. And they need to start now.
What amazes me is "Apple" needs to do something. Because this is part of Foxconn's customer list.
Apple Inc.
Acer
Amazon
Asus
Intel
Cisco
Hewlett-Packard
Dell
Nintendo
Nokia
Microsoft
Sony
Sony Ericsson
Samsung
Vizio
What amazes me is "Apple" needs to do something.
I am not in any way trying to spare those other companies, but the fact is the explosion took place in a factory working on iPads as was probably due to the aluminum polishing process used on iPads.
BTW, the hazards in this particular factory were revealed two weeks before the explosion. In addition to explosive hazards, the health hazards include poor ventilation and air with lots of aluminum dust. This is on top of the multitude of health and safety hazards common in Foxconn plants around the world.
http://www.examiner.com/technology-i...ssues-alarming
I ordered an iPad 2 yesterday and this morning Apple has e-mailed me to say it has shipped!
Hopefully there aren't any body parts in the box it comes in.
Hopefully there aren't any body parts in the box it comes in.
Hopefully there are! Imagine the amount you could get for a finger on eBay!
Hopefully there are! Imagine the amount you could get for a finger on eBay!
Gross. But funny in a black sort of way.
Hopefully there aren't any body parts in the box it comes in.
Yeah, maybe we should go back to pre-indtustrial age life -- where the streets were paved with animal feces and the average life-span was 30-40.
Gross. But funny in a black sort of way.
In the age of Obama you need to substitute a certain portion of your comment, otherwise your comment might be construed as racist!
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Yeah, maybe we should go back to pre-indtustrial age life -- where the streets were paved with animal feces and the average life-span was 30-40.
I think your implied choice between having products or going back to the pre-industial age is a false one.
There's no need to shut down the plant. But there's also no need to have workers exposed to hazardous chemicals, breathing aluminum, and not properly ventilating for an explosive material like magnesium dust.
But seriously, Foxconn employs 400,000 people, death toll is actually lower than the U.S. average. I'm sure they will investigate and work to improve the reliability of their facilities because that's how they make money, through timely production.
Like any other company, I'm sure they also value their employees who operate these machinery and Foxconn probably spent butt-loads of money and valuable hours training and certifying them.
I'm sure the supervisor who chose to ignore the problem to the point of destroying the company's equipment is in deep trouble, probably lost his job and/or is in prison.
Like any other company, I'm sure they also value their employees who operate these machinery and Foxconn probably spent butt-loads of money and valuable hours training and certifying them.
I'm sure the supervisor who chose to ignore the problem to the point of destroying the company's equipment is in deep trouble, probably lost his job and/or is in prison.
Wanna bet a dollar on that?
What amazes me is "Apple" needs to do something. Because this is part of Foxconn's customer list.
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1) magicj is going to vilify Apple no matter what they do.
2) This did happen at a plant, or part of a plant, producing Apple?s iPads. If a factory producing Sony batteries exploded I?d expect Sony to respond.
3) I think Apple is their biggest customer, and along with Apple?s mindshare pretty much anything that happens at Foxconn will have an instant Apple association. I bet even if the issue had nothing to do with an Apple product the media would phrase it as such to mention Apple.
I ordered an iPad 2 yesterday and this morning Apple has e-mailed me to say it has shipped!
I ordered one for my wife (16g, WiFi only) from MacMall four weeks ago, and it's still on backorder.
I ordered one for my wife (16g, WiFi only) from MacMall four weeks ago, and it's still on backorder.
Out of curiosity, why order from MacMall when they’re ship times are longer than Apple’s ship times?
edit: MacMall and Apple both have 1-2 week ship times listed. I assumed the online stock was better for Apple due to digitalclips’ post and my recent query at a local Apple Store.
LOL! Three dead, many seriously injured, but we will still have our shiny gizmos.
I'm glad Apple has at least acknowledged that problems exist at the Foxconn plant they use, but they need to do more to correct those problems. And they need to start now.
To be fair this is a tech news site. People who want to know the effects on production are not necessarily heartless consumers and I don't see any immorality in them wanting to know. These things have obvious knock on effects. Your comment is a tad "holier than thou". Sure something has to be done about Foxconn though.
1) magicj is going to vilify Apple no matter what they do.
Hardly true. I only vilify them when they don't inform customers that their private data has been stolen, when they sell developers access to APIs that can't be used due to patent disputes, and when they financially reward manufactures with a long history of serious abuses against their employees. And for their 800+ fart apps.
You, on the other hand, will defend Apple in the face of these abuses, which are so bad that even American slaves never had to tolerate anything like it. And before you argue this point with me, show me a reference where American slaves were exposed to hazardous chemicals and forced to breathe aluminum every day.
Wanna bet a dollar on that?
Having worked in manufacturing for several years, ignoring scheduled maintenance and repairs on equipment to the point of failure and even worse, the talent that went behind operating such machinery (hard to find or takes a long time to train) are injured is a very serious profit loss due to missing your set goals and deadlines.
Many factory contracts depend on delivery, so if a manufacturer does not deliver on time they will actually loose anywhere from 5~45% of the agreed-on amount. In some cases it's even a 100%, and that's when the products are sold at "dumping" rates, which a big problem for U.S. businesses to purchase since they carry legal implications.
Hopefully there aren't any body parts in the box it comes in.
Hopefully there are! Imagine the amount you could get for a finger on eBay!
Gross. But funny in a black sort of way.
Didn't you all jump on a poster for making jokes about the explosion the day the story broke? But it's okay now?
Hmmm, I guess timing is everything.