Foxconn, the company that manufactures Apple products, is said to replace humans for 'Foxbots' to assemble the next-generation iPhone and iPad.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., which trades under the name Foxconn Technology, is the world's largest electronics contractor manufacturer. Apple is one of the biggest customers of the Taiwanese company, which has made several iterations of the iPhone and the iPad.
Terry Gou, the CEO of Foxconn, recently indicated that the company is in the final stage of a robotic factory. Even though Gou did not indicate if Apple products will be the first to be assembled at the new facility, chances are high that the next-generation iPhone and iPad will be the first to be assembled at the unit.
"Foxconn is preparing to enhance its assembly process with a new line of robots, the CEO of the iPhone manufacturer's parent company said during a shareholder meeting. According to the executive, Apple will be the first company to reap the benefits of the new process, likely indicating that the iPhone 6 will be the first phone to be produced by the new machines," reports 9to5Mac.
The new facility is expected to house 10,000 robots, which will cost Foxconn between $20,000 and $25,000 each. The robots are expected to produce 30,000 iPhone each per year. However, the production capacity of iPads remains unknown. Gou says that the Foxbots are also in their final stage of testing and will not be available for sale to other companies.
However, some reports suggest that Foxconn is hiring thousands of human employees to meet the production line demand for the upcoming iPhone 6.
Apple usually launches its new smartphones and tablets in the fall and Foxconn plays an important role to ensure timely delivery of the iPhone. This year is expected to be the same for both the companies. However, Foxconn may have to deal with two new form factors of the iPhone as rumors suggest that the rumored iPhone 6 will be available with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens. The iPhone 6 is also expected to be thinner than its predecessors.
The Taiwanese company's robot initiative has seen delays since first announced in 2011. At that time, Gou told that the company already had around 10,000 units in operation. The number of robots was expected to rise to 300,000 by 2012 and to 1 million by 2014. The total number of Foxbots currently used by Foxconn in its factories is not known.
