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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,373



Beyond the obvious human toll of last week's Foxconn factory explosion, there's been speculation about how the incident may affect Apple's iPad 2 production.

Some analysts have already suggested that the production impact should be minimal, but now China Times is reporting more definitively that the iPad would not be affected based on comments from Foxconn to suppliers.
Sources said the explosion at Foxconn Technology Group’s Chengdu plant did not affect the assembly line of iPad. Foxconn assured major suppliers at an online meeting yesterday that under the principle of “orders placed and goods delivered as usual”, the production of iPad 2 would not be delayed and related iPhone devices and new iPad products would still be in mass production in the third quarter.
"Related iPhone devices and new iPad products" appears to be sufficiently vague, but Apple, of course, is expected to launch a new iPhone around September this year which is likely to be manufactured by Foxconn.

The explosion which rocked Foxconn's factory on Friday night killed 3 people and left 15 injured. Apple has issued a statement expressing their condolences to the victims and family and that they are investigating the event.

Article Link: Foxconn to Suppliers: iPad 2 Production Will Not Delayed Due to Explosion
 

ericinboston

macrumors 68010
Jan 13, 2008
2,004
476
Well they are certainly NOT going to get up on stage and state that production WILL be affected...which would immediately:

1)drop Foxconn's stock
2)drop Apple's stock
3)cast doubts (inside Apple and other customers) on why Foxconn doesn't have a backup plan

It would be nice (for Foxconn) if production will not be affected but it seems crazy to think so...an explosion that kills 3 and injures dozens?...that's at least going to shut the plant down for days (weeks?) as investigations happen...then they have to rebuild the plant.
 

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,362
5,795
It would be nice (for Foxconn) if production will not be affected but it seems crazy to think so...an explosion that kills 3 and injures dozens?...that's at least going to shut the plant down for days (weeks?) as investigations happen...then they have to rebuild the plant.

You seem to be under the assumption that Foxconn only has one plant, and that that one plant only makes ipad 2s.

For scale, it looks like Foxconn had nearly 1 million employees in 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn

arn
 

BigPrince

macrumors 68020
Dec 27, 2006
2,053
111
Well they are certainly NOT going to get up on stage and state that production WILL be affected...which would immediately:

1)drop Foxconn's stock
2)drop Apple's stock
3)cast doubts (inside Apple and other customers) on why Foxconn doesn't have a backup plan

It would be nice (for Foxconn) if production will not be affected but it seems crazy to think so...an explosion that kills 3 and injures dozens?...that's at least going to shut the plant down for days (weeks?) as investigations happen...then they have to rebuild the plant.

Maybe there would be an investigation that would perhaps "shut down" a plant if this was the US....

and most customers have no idea whatsoever that some plant in China "exploded" or what the heck "Foxconn" is
 

CFreymarc

Suspended
Sep 4, 2009
3,969
1,149
Well they are certainly NOT going to get up on stage and state that production WILL be affected...which would immediately:

1)drop Foxconn's stock
2)drop Apple's stock
3)cast doubts (inside Apple and other customers) on why Foxconn doesn't have a backup plan

This is a short seller dream. Have fun boys!

It would be nice (for Foxconn) if production will not be affected but it seems crazy to think so...an explosion that kills 3 and injures dozens?...that's at least going to shut the plant down for days (weeks?) as investigations happen...then they have to rebuild the plant.

In the states, it would. In PRC Inc., I doubt it. They will just shut down that building or building section and keep the line rolling. Besides those deaths were not in vain and contributed to the frontier of building a workers paradise. ;)
 

MorphingDragon

macrumors 603
Mar 27, 2009
5,160
6
The World Inbetween
It would be nice (for Foxconn) if production will not be affected but it seems crazy to think so...an explosion that kills 3 and injures dozens?...that's at least going to shut the plant down for days (weeks?) as investigations happen...then they have to rebuild the plant.

This is China. A lot of this will be swept under the rug.
 

DavidReeves

macrumors newbie
Dec 4, 2008
14
0
Wow

Well thank God my iPad2 won't be delayed. I'm sure the families of those killed and injured are comforted by that.
 

Eddyisgreat

macrumors 601
Oct 24, 2007
4,851
2
Well thank God my iPad2 won't be delayed. I'm sure the families of those killed and injured are comforted by that.

Yes. Because the thousands of other lives that depend on the iPad production for their welfare (part manufacturers, logistics, retailers, accessory makers, engineers, et al) don't deserve to know ANYTHING about this situation other than that , unfortunately, 3 employees were killed and 15 employees were injured.
 
Last edited:

iRobby

macrumors 6502a
Mar 22, 2011
994
6
Fort Myers, FL USA
Well they are certainly NOT going to get up on stage and state that production WILL be affected...which would immediately:

1)drop Foxconn's stock
2)drop Apple's stock
3)cast doubts (inside Apple and other customers) on why Foxconn doesn't have a backup plan

It would be nice (for Foxconn) if production will not be affected but it seems crazy to think so...an explosion that kills 3 and injures dozens?...that's at least going to shut the plant down for days (weeks?) as investigations happen...then they have to rebuild the plant.


The article not only said in general production wouldn't be affected. But specified production lines WERE NOT physically affected by the explosion
 

Constable Odo

macrumors 6502
Mar 28, 2008
483
268
Analysts have already planted seeds of discontent into investors minds by offering beforehand that iPad 2 supplies would be affected the the explosion. They're always offering up their half-assed utterings about the things that will affect Apple device production despite knowing absolutely nothing about the details. :mad:
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,541
1,653
Redondo Beach, California
it seems crazy to think so...an explosion that kills 3 and injures dozens?...that's at least going to shut the plant down for days (weeks?) as investigations happen....

The plant is the size of a city. tens of thousands of people work there. It may likely be this explosion was in a store room where they keep paint Likely not even near where Apple products are made.
 

Superdelphinus

macrumors regular
Feb 27, 2008
121
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

Seriously, who gives a **** if ipad productions slows down a bit for a while? Madness
 

adamran

macrumors member
Sep 1, 2010
35
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

Seriously, who gives a **** if ipad productions slows down a bit for a while? Madness

Take a friggin guess,

People who want to buy one maybe? Like me FFS!

Why am I meant to give a **** about someone I don't even know
 

Chundles

macrumors G5
Jul 4, 2005
12,037
493
"iPad 2 Production will not be delayed"

means

"The current short supply of iPad 2s will remain the status quo"
 

MH01

Suspended
Feb 11, 2008
12,107
9,297
Take a friggin guess,

People who want to buy one maybe? Like me FFS!

Why am I meant to give a **** about someone I don't even know

Yeah, lets not worry about people having thier lives potentially at risk, as long as the *******s get thier Ipads ASAP!

Hey good news! I do not know you! Enjoy the delay!
 

kchika

macrumors member
Aug 18, 2010
32
0
What does everyone else think about this article?

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110523-712736.html

MAY 23, 2011, 6:09 P.M. ET

IHS ISuppli Warns Explosion At China Plant May Slow iPad Production

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

An explosion at a Chinese plant could result in a production loss of 500,000 Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPad 2 tablets in the second quarter, according to research firm IHS ISuppli.

The firm's comments followed a report that a large explosion at a Foxconn high-tech plant killed at least two people and suspended production at the facility. The facility, located in southwestern China, has been identified in local media as a manufacturing location for Apple's iPad tablet.

According to IHS iSuppli, total production capacity at the Chengdu site amounts to about 500,000 iPad 2 units a month. The firm said if the explosion results in a production shutdown until the end of June, a production stoppage of half a million units could occur.

IHS iSuppli noted most production of the iPad 2 occurs at another Foxconn facility in Shenzhen, although it warned the plant may not be able to compensate for all the lost output at the Chengdu site. The impact of the explosion is also expected to reignite the debate about Apple's corporate responsibility involving production safety.

Just last month, IHS iSuppli cut its iPad tablet shipment forecast for the year, saying manufacturing issues led to a shortfall in shipments in the first quarter. The issues, according to sources, included quality concerns with liquid crystal display panels and production shortages of the new speaker.

Edit: just found a Youtube video regarding this article.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBNB09oMZyQ
 
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