SHENZHEN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn will replace some of its workers with 1 million robots in three years to cut rising labor expenses and improve efficiency, said Terry Gou, founder and chairman of the company, late Friday. The robots will be used to do simple and routine work such as spraying, welding and assembling which are now mainly conducted by workers, said Gou at a workers' dance party Friday night. The company currently has 10,000 robots and the number will be increased to 300,000 next year and 1 million in three years, according to Gou. Foxconn, the world's largest maker of computer components which assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia, is in the spotlight after a string of suicides of workers at its massive Chinese plants, which some blamed on tough working conditions. The company currently employs 1.2 million people, with about 1 million of them based on the Chinese mainland. Related: TAIPEI, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Foxconn, one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers, plans to increase its investment in central China's Henan Province after moving factories to Henan and southwest China's Sichuan Province last year. Foxconn plans to invest in 19 new projects in Henan, including factories that will produce camera lenses and LED lighting rigs, as well as more branches of Foxconn's retail chain Cybermart, Terry Guo, chairman of the Foxconn Technology Group, said during an economic forum held in Taipei on Friday. Full story CHENGDU, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Foxconn, the world's largest electronics contractor, opened a new 2-billion-U.S.-dollar plant in southwest China's Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan, Friday to manufacture laptop computers. Hongfujin Precision Electronics (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., the factory's owner and a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, has a registered capital of 100 million U.S. dollars. Full story |
