Foxconn

Foxconn charged with poor working conditions

Working conditions at the plants that make many of our favorite consumer electronics have long been a subject of concern -- even for those manufacturers that contract with them.

Employees at Foxconn factories in China have committed suicide, jumping from buildings. Explosions have injured and even killed workers at plants run by Foxconn and another contact manufacturer, Pegatron. And pay has been often barely enough for Chinese workers to get make ends meet and send a bit home to their families.

Those issues came to a head after an exhaustive New York Times report on working conditions at Foxconn. Activists … Read more

Made in America? Foxconn mulls U.S. expansion

"Made in the U.S." is becoming more appealing to at least one Asian manufacturer.

Foxconn, a major supplier to Apple and other tech companies, today told Bloomberg that it's seeking to expand its operations in North America as customers request more of their products be made in the region.

"We are looking at doing more manufacturing in the U.S. because, in general, customers want more to be done there," Louis Woo, a Foxconn spokesman, told Bloomberg.

He didn't provide many other details beyond saying the supply chain is a big challenge for … Read more

Foxconn reportedly installing robots to replace workers

Foxconn, the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing giant frequently criticized for poor working conditions, has reportedly begun replacing its factory workers with robots.

After a rash of worker suicides at Foxconn factories in China, the manufacturer of hardware for Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Sony announced its intention last year to replace some of its workers with robots. Terry Gou, founder and chairman of the company, told employees at a dance in July 2011 that the move was designed to improve efficiency and combat rising labor costs.

The first batch of 10,000 robots -- nicknamed "Foxbots" -- have arrived in … Read more

New U.S. address in Foxconn's future? Don't bet on it

With unemployment close to 8 percent, you can understand why this headline would grab peoples' attention. A story in Digitimes reports that Foxconn is scouting prospective sites in the United States for future manufacturing plants.

I was skeptical about this story -- which talks about production of LCD TVs, not iPhones -- and that might have been the end of it.

But maybe it's not quite as crazy as it seems. A spokeswoman for Foxconn told me in an e-mail that the company "already has multiple facilities based in the U.S." but she also went on … Read more

Foxconn looks to U.S. to open manufacturing plants, report says

Far-fetched? Um, yeah. But Foxconn reportedly is thinking of expanding its operation to the U.S.

Famous as the company that makes iPhones for Apple, China's Foxconn is now evaluating a few U.S. cities, including Detroit and Los Angeles, to determine whether they would be good places to set up shop, Digitimes is reporting today, citing so-called "market watchers."

It should be noted that it's not clear who these market watchers are or why they would have knowledge of Foxconn's plans. Beyond that, the company has been able to establish itself as a leading … Read more

Fair Labor Association too easy on Apple, Foxconn, study says

A nonprofit organization criticized the Fair Labor Association's review of Apple's largest supplier in China, saying consumer demand for the iPhone 5 has unraveled any potential improvements in working conditions at the Chinese factories.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), an economic policy think tank focused on the needs of low- and middle-income workers, criticized the Fair Labor Association in a briefing paper published today, saying its "rosy" determination that a "genuine transformation is under way" in Foxconn's factories are "unfounded."

CNET has contacted the FLA, Apple, and Foxconn for comment and … Read more

Foxconn chief: We can't keep up with iPhone demand

Foxconn isn't churning out iPhones as fast as Apple would like, the Chinese company's chairman told reporters today.

"It's not easy to make the iPhones," Foxconn chief Terry Gou said, according to Reuters. "We are falling short of meeting the huge demand."

Gou didn't say which iPhones are actually difficult to produce -- Apple is still selling three models, the iPhone 5, the iPhone 4S, and the iPhone 4 -- but it's likely that he was talking about the company's latest smartphone.

Last month, an unidentified Foxconn official told the … Read more

Foxconn goes to court over severely injured worker

The father of a Foxconn employee who was severely injured at one of the company's factories took the manufacturer to court today, according to a report.

Zhang Guangde, father of the injured Zhang Tingzhen, today argued in a Chinese court that his son should not be moved to another facility and that Foxconn should be required to continue to pay his hospital bills. Reuters was first to report on the case.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Zhang Tingzhen was trying to fix a spotlight on a wall in Foxconn's Shenzhen factory, when he was hit with a … Read more

Why the iPhone 5 is in short supply

Still waiting for an iPhone 5? Apple's own supplier offers a reason why.

An unnamed official with Hon Hai, aka Foxconn, told the Wall Street Journal that the design process of making the new phone light and thin is "very complicated." Calling the iPhone 5 "the most difficult device that Foxconn has ever assembled," the official said that factory employees are still learning how to build the phone.

But he offered a note of optimism by saying that workers are getting better at assembling the phone. "Practice makes perfect," he told the Journal.… Read more