Foxconn to build 5 new Brazilian factories to help make Apple products [u]
Apple product assembler Foxconn plans to build five additional factories in Brazil to help cater to demand iPads and other tablets, which are expected to combine for an annual run rate of nearly 400 million units within five years.
Folha.com says the news was revealed by São Paulo's Secretary of Planning and Development of the State, Julio Semeghini. He said the five factories, which are in addition to the one already believed to be turning out iPads and iPhones, will each staff roughly 1000 workers.
In addition to helping supply Apple with iPads, the factories will be tooled for notebook and general electronics production.
Officials from Foxconn and the Brazilian government will reportedly meet following the Chinese New Year to decide on where the factories will be built, but São Paulo is said to be pushing heavily for the investment.
Foxconn already receives tax breaks for producing tablets in the region. Last week, the Brazilian government approved tax reductions or exemptions that cleared the way for the company to begin producing iPads in the country.
The new Inter-Ministerial Decree 34 specifically states that companies investing in the research and development of keyboardless touchscreen tablets weighing less than 750 grams qualify for IPI (Excise Tax), PIS (Social Contribution Tax) and COFINS (Federal Contribution Tax) incentives.
Meanwhile, thousands of people reportedly lined the streets outside a labor agency located in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou last night hoping to land a job at one of Foxconn's local factories.
Thousands wait their turn at a Chinese labor agency in hopes of landing a job at Foxconn | Source M.I.C.gadget
The company is reportedly working with the city of Zhengzhou to double the size of the workforce at its facility there ahead of the next iPhone launch, recruiting an additional 100,000 employees.
Word of Foxconn's increased investment in Brazilian tablet production arrives on the heels of a report from market research firm NPD which predicts the worldwide tablet market to explode to 383.3 million units in 2017 as the portion of tablets purchased by customers in emerging markets increases.
Update: A Foxconn representative declined to confirm its Brazilian expansion plans to Economia, calling the report "pure speculation."
Comments
At this rate Foxcon will soon buy Apple
How? The other way around sounds more plausible, and even it would NEVER happen.
Now we'll get to hear people complaining that wage rates in Brazil are lower than the US and Apple is exploiting those poor Brazilians......
I don't know for sure, but I don't think Brazil will allow the abuses seen in China. You can't dispute the Chinese abuses - you can argue that it's not all Apple's fault, and I agree with that.
How? The other way around sounds more plausible, and even it would NEVER happen.
How? Mr Foxconn walks into an Apple store with a big fat wallet and declares he likes the company so much he is buying it.
Oh, and for you... here's the [JOKE] tag. You can apply that to the previous post, too.
I don't know for sure, but I don't think Brazil will allow the abuses seen in China. You can't dispute the Chinese abuses - you can argue that it's not all Apple's fault, and I agree with that.
Hardly:
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/e...ONDITIONS.html
Even though children under 14 years of age are prohibited from working, it is estimated that 14 percent of all children between 10 and 13 work. Maternity benefits include a 90-day leave for mothers and a one-week leave for fathers. Racial discrimination is illegal, but still practiced by many businesses in Brazil. Non-white workers and women are often underpaid.
No doubt it's better than China, but the working conditions and wage rates are still far below the U.S. Since there has been so much complaining about wage rates and working conditions in China being below the U.S., I expect that it will continue with Brazil. Other than their maternity benefits, they are far behind the U.S. in almost every regard.
If you don't feel dirty, you aren't paying attention.
One of the great ironies of the 21st century is that most of our marvelous hi-tech toys are made entirely by hand, in sweatshops, by desperate people whose pitiful wages can't purchase even one of the hugely profitable devices they make.
If you don't feel dirty, you aren't paying attention.
Did you FAX this in or carrier pigeon?
One of the great ironies of the 21st century is that most of our marvelous hi-tech toys are made entirely by hand, in sweatshops, by desperate people whose pitiful wages can't purchase even one of the hugely profitable devices they make.
If you don't feel dirty, you aren't paying attention.
It's not really a 21st century phenomenon. In the 1860s cheap Chinese labor was used to build the first transcontinental railroad across the US. That railroad greatly increased economic efficiency and so will these iDevices.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same."
One of the great ironies of the 21st century is that most of our marvelous hi-tech toys are made entirely by hand, in sweatshops, by desperate people whose pitiful wages can't purchase even one of the hugely profitable devices they make.
If you don't feel dirty, you aren't paying attention.
Apple Foxconn workers make more money, commit suicide less, and have better overall satisfaction than the Chinese average. This talk is getting old.
How? Mr Foxconn walks into an Apple store with a big fat wallet and declares he likes the company so much he is buying it.
Oh, and for you... here's the [JOKE] tag. You can apply that to the previous post, too.
So you are talking about a hostile take over bid and you think the majority of those that own Apple, i.e. the share holders, would agree? Just curious how you'd see this working in practice.
Hardly:
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/e...ONDITIONS.html
No doubt it's better than China, but the working conditions and wage rates are still far below the U.S. Since there has been so much complaining about wage rates and working conditions in China being below the U.S., I expect that it will continue with Brazil. Other than their maternity benefits, they are far behind the U.S. in almost every regard.
Wage rates don't matter. What does matter is how many hours does someone have to work to afford a home or a refrigerator or food, etc.
Brazil was very smart. They told Apple to either build the products there or face huge import taxes. So Apple had no choice. In the U.S., we let companies like Apple do whatever they want. I don't want to criticize Apple too much because they are expanding the number of employees in the U.S. and most of the jobs are well-paying jobs. Even the retail jobs, which don't pay all that well, pay more than factory jobs would have if Apple had factories (whether directly or indirectly) in the U.S.
What does surprise me is that it's Foxconn who is building the Brazilian factory. I would have thought it would have been a Brazilian company.
My personal view, which I've expressed before is that ethical companies will build products close to the markets that they serve so that the people who buy the products get the benefits of the related factory jobs.
As for Apple, who I don't expect to change the policy of building in China (Brazil obviously excepted), they do need to insure that workers are treated decently with safety the primary consideration. Obviously, from that photo posted of Chinese job applicants, they want to work at Apple in spite of the reputed poor working conditions. But that's still no excuse for employees being exposed to toxic chemicals or subject to explosions caused by aluminum dust and the like. Apple may not own the factory per se, but they are going to take the hit to their reputation and brand when these things happen.
Apple Foxconn workers make more money, commit suicide less, and have better overall satisfaction than the Chinese average. This talk is getting old.
Agreed. Those pictured above don't look like feudal peasants lining up for a job planting rice. It looks more like a university campus population to me
What does surprise me is that it's Foxconn who is building the Brazilian factory. I would have thought it would have been a Brazilian company.
Yeah... there must be ten Brazillian companies easily that could build a couple million iDevices a month without needing to rely on Foxcon's IP.
Sad reality is there are maybe 3-4 companies worldwide that can run this type of operation. It is a dangerous predicament, and I hope Apple can diversify around the problem within the next 5 years.
(No, it isn't going to bring jobs back to the US in any kind of number to be meaningful.)
Ahh, the international free market. One serf workforce country undercutting another.
Capital flows to where it can most efficiently be deployed. That is the root cause of what we are seeing. The import tariffs imposed by Brazil likely distort the incentives.
If so, then Foxcon's decision is not completely the result of free market forces.
Agreed. Those pictured above don't look like feudal peasants lining up for a job planting rice. It looks more like a university campus population to me
I hope the girl with the orange scarf builds my iPad 3. She looks a little bit eccentric and I like eccentric people.
Yeah... there must be ten Brazillian companies easily that could build a couple million iDevices a month without needing to rely on Foxcon's IP.
Sad reality is there are maybe 3-4 companies worldwide that can run this type of operation. It is a dangerous predicament, and I hope Apple can diversify around the problem within the next 5 years.
(No, it isn't going to bring jobs back to the US in any kind of number to be meaningful.)
I'd agree Foxconn is pretty important to Apple's future. I would like to see that very rare manufacturing ability that Apple demands in a few more camps, if not owned by Apple themselves (or at least in their control).
RE your last comment: However, one could argue that Apple's phenomenal success is responsible for a ton of jobs directly and indirectly here in the USA.
I hope the girl with the orange scarf builds my iPad 3. She looks a little bit eccentric and I like eccentric people.
I was thinking she looked like there was more than Sprite in that bottle