Foxconn to begin iPad production in Brazil in September; Apple posts new iPad 2 ad
Brazil's Minister of Science and Technology has revealed that Foxconn is scheduled to start iPad production in the country in September, while Apple has posted a new ad showcasing the iPad 2.
iPad in Brazil
Minister AloÃ*zio Mercadante said that Apple had planned to begin production of the tablet in late July, but had pushed the start date back to late August or early September, Globo (via Google Translate) reports.
According to the minister, construction glitches and a shortage of skilled labor contributed to the delays. Foxconn, which serves as one of Apple's main manufacturing partners, has hired 175 engineers and sent them to China for training, but more than 200 engineers are needed for the plant.
The project is also dependent upon full legal approval from the city of JundiaÃ* where the production plant is being built. The city has said it is committed to the project and approval process has been accelerated in order to meet the deadlines.
Mercadante expects a locally produced iPad to be 40 percent cheaper for consumers than the imported version. Brazil has steep import tariffs that can as much as double the cost of consumer electronics.
In April, Mercadante said negotiations were underway with Apple and Foxconn to begin iPad production with a tentative start date of the end of November.
Another Brazilian official has said that the Foxconn unit there will produce as many as six million iPads and generate four to five thousand new jobs by the time it reaches full capacity in three to four years.
Foxconn is also said to be considering a $12 billion investment toward new facilities in the country. According to one report, the company has sent a list of requirements, which includes requests for financial support from the Brazilian National Development Bank and government help in finding investors, to officials as part of the negotiations.
Last month, a Foxconn iPad polishing plant in Chengdu, China experienced an explosion that killed several workers. The planted reopened early this month after an investigation into the incident.
iPad 2 ad
Apple on Friday posted a new ad for the iPad 2 on its website and YouTube channel. Entitled "Now," the ad highlights new opportunities made possible by the touchscreen tablet.
"Now we can watch a newspaper, listen to a magazine, curl up with a movie and see a phone call," the ad states. "Now we can take a classroom everywhere, hold an entire bookstore and touch the stars, because now, there's this."
iPad in Brazil
Minister AloÃ*zio Mercadante said that Apple had planned to begin production of the tablet in late July, but had pushed the start date back to late August or early September, Globo (via Google Translate) reports.
According to the minister, construction glitches and a shortage of skilled labor contributed to the delays. Foxconn, which serves as one of Apple's main manufacturing partners, has hired 175 engineers and sent them to China for training, but more than 200 engineers are needed for the plant.
The project is also dependent upon full legal approval from the city of JundiaÃ* where the production plant is being built. The city has said it is committed to the project and approval process has been accelerated in order to meet the deadlines.
Mercadante expects a locally produced iPad to be 40 percent cheaper for consumers than the imported version. Brazil has steep import tariffs that can as much as double the cost of consumer electronics.
In April, Mercadante said negotiations were underway with Apple and Foxconn to begin iPad production with a tentative start date of the end of November.
Another Brazilian official has said that the Foxconn unit there will produce as many as six million iPads and generate four to five thousand new jobs by the time it reaches full capacity in three to four years.
Foxconn is also said to be considering a $12 billion investment toward new facilities in the country. According to one report, the company has sent a list of requirements, which includes requests for financial support from the Brazilian National Development Bank and government help in finding investors, to officials as part of the negotiations.
Last month, a Foxconn iPad polishing plant in Chengdu, China experienced an explosion that killed several workers. The planted reopened early this month after an investigation into the incident.
iPad 2 ad
Apple on Friday posted a new ad for the iPad 2 on its website and YouTube channel. Entitled "Now," the ad highlights new opportunities made possible by the touchscreen tablet.
"Now we can watch a newspaper, listen to a magazine, curl up with a movie and see a phone call," the ad states. "Now we can take a classroom everywhere, hold an entire bookstore and touch the stars, because now, there's this."
Comments
Of course some will decry the lack of lasers, non sequiturs, and Transformers tie-ins, but I think Apple's quiet style is the best in the business.
This would be a good case to study at school, because in theory tariffs don't work because they skew supply and demand, encourage trade wars and reduce home country competitiveness. Here we have tariffs lead a company to become a domestic manufacturer to increase in employment, and an increase in sales (due to reduced price) with no apparent negative affects on the country. Domestic competition is not hurt because there is no competition in tablet space (so no reduction in domestic competitiveness). Demand is not getting any lower and prices on domestic production production are not going up (there are no brazilian tablet makers that I know of).
I truly hope that the iPad becomes an education staple for schools around the world. I sure wished technology like that was available when I was going to school some 50 years ago. Being able to pack dozens of eBooks/eTextbooks into a handheld device that size is just amazing. Some say the cost of an iPad is too high, but when it comes to education it surely must be worth the cost.
Some say the cost of an iPad is too high, but when it comes to education it surely must be worth the cost.
Yeah I find anyone with that viewpoint to be insane. $500 for a computer with this much capability, mobility and quality? We've never seen anything this good at this price before. Since when could a person get a $500 mobile PC this good at any point in the past 35 years?
No need to answer that question because it's never happened before.
Apple has class!
And now instead of having a few million iPads manufactured every quarter we'll have a brazilian of them!!
Brazilian of them.,, yes I get it,
very good
Minister AloÃ*zio Mercadante said that Apple had planned to begin production of the table in late July, but had pushed the start date back to late August or early September, Globo (via Google Translate) reports.
LOL, table, eh? How many times did this get translated?
And now instead of having a few million iPads manufactured every quarter we'll have a brazilian of them!!
I dont understand. One Brazilian man instead of a few million iPads. How does that help Apple?
So much for free trade.
This would be a good case to study at school, because in theory tariffs don't work because they skew supply and demand, encourage trade wars and reduce home country competitiveness. Here we have tariffs lead a company to become a domestic manufacturer to increase in employment, and an increase in sales (due to reduced price) with no apparent negative affects on the country. Domestic competition is not hurt because there is no competition in tablet space (so no reduction in domestic competitiveness). Demand is not getting any lower and prices on domestic production production are not going up (there are no brazilian tablet makers that I know of).
It's complicated. Nobody serious has ever denied that tariffs can result in improved employment within a single industry, the argument is that they damage the country as a whole. So yes, Brazil is winning a Foxxconn plant but how many iOS developers never got started due to the lack of access to devices?
So a new Brazilian factory needs 3 to 4 years to ramp up to 6 million iPads per year. How then can the world ramp up to producing 200 million tablets by 2015 (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._future.html)? That's just inconceivable: http://bit.ly/m2maPF
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means
I dont understand. One Brazilian man instead of a few million iPads. How does that help Apple?
The joke will become clear when they start making them in Gazil too.
I just checked out the Brazilian Apple Store (online) and the cost for the 16g iPad2 there is $1033.04 when converted from Real to Dollars.Those tariffs sure do add up! If the iPad2 is produced in Brazil and the tariffs are removed, then the price will be much more reasonable and sales will surely skyrocket. This will give Apple a huge advantage against all other imported tablets that will face the steep tariffs. I wonder if Apple has some exclusive agreement with Foxconn for tablet production in Brazil.
Remember when Sony officially launched the PlayStation 2 in Brasil for R$799 (or about USD$461). Shouldn't be too hard to remember since it was only in November 2009, 3 full years after the PlayStation 3 was released to the rest of the world.
New plant in Brazil going online will set the path for the into of Ipad 3, but more importantly .....hopefully the quality control and manufacturing process will be better than in China.
You casually make a statement as if it is fact. Nothing could be further from the truth. Quality control and manufacturing will be "better" than in China? Current iPads and iPhones are built very well, thank you. Oh, I see, you are one of the ones likes to latch onto minor problems and claim they are "widespread" and "known".
Quality control and manufacturing will be no better or worse than in China. The article even points out that the Brazil plant was delayed because of the lack of skilled labor.
Your entire post is baloney.
I wonder if Apple has some exclusive agreement with Foxconn for tablet production in Brazil.
Given that Apple can utilize any capacity Foxconn can build there in the next 3 years they probably have the right of first refusal over any new capacity in Brazil - but I doubt they got a complete exclusive deal - a big part of the reason that Foxconn can offer such attractive terms is because it can share infrastructure between clients and switch capacity between them as needed.
New plant in Brazil going online will set the path for the into of Ipad 3, but more importantly .....hopefully the quality control and manufacturing process will be better than in China.
It's the same company with the same procedures so I imagine the output quality will be the same.