Let the hirings begin!
Five iPhones in, Apple (News - Alert) looks to be getting ready to produce the iPhone 6 (if that will be its name) – and you know this stuff isn't made in America. It's made – at least partly – in Taiwan.
Foxconn, the trade name for the Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., announced on Monday that since the last week of March, it has brought on about 10,000 assembly-line workers per week in its Zhengzhou facility – where the bulk of Apple's production goes down.
Details on production plans are scarce. Apple's Beijing spokeswoman Carolyn Wu declined to comment, and Foxconn is cagy on the matter. A company spokesman remarked that the company is boosting workforce to meet “seasonal demand from clients.”
Seasonal demand? Ten thousand new assembly workers a week is a pretty hefty number for a seasonal demand. It's only reasonable to speculate that the surge in workforce is owed to the Zhengzhou facility preparing for production of the new iPhone (News - Alert).
A Zhengzhou-based executive who claims to have knowledge of Foxconn's production plans says that mass production of the newest iPhone will soon begin.
Rumors have been floating around Apple's upcoming smartphone endeavor for a while. The company is expected to begin production of the newest iPhone in the second quarter of the year. It's been speculated that a less-expensive iPhone could also accompany the new model, as Samsung (News - Alert) and other rivals pop up with similar values at far more reasonable prices.
Apple isn't the only one feeling the heat of competition – Foxconn, which has made substantial riches from the success of iPhone, iPad and iPad mini, is also under pressure to stay on top. Demand for iPhones and iPads have been softening, analysts find, but are expected to bounce up once production for the new iPhone is officially underway.
Not only has Foxconn as a company prospered from Apple's business, it's responsible for a great many jobs. The company currently has more than 1.4 million workers in the country.