Unrelated: A robot leaps from a window in 2004 film i, Robot
Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, the maker of Apple’s iPhone and iPad, is reportedly planning to replace some of its workers with one million robots over a three-year span. This according to the company’s co-founder and chairman Terry Gou, cited by China’s Xinhua News Agency.
Given the poor working conditions and low pay for which Foxconn is notorious, it’s probably a good thing that some of the dirty work is being allocated to robots. Just this evening, Taiwanese animators NMA produced their interpretation of recent events at Foxconn and its upcoming robot army. As usual, NMA’s humor is pretty dark, but they do make some interesting points in the video below.
Foxconn currently employs about one million people in mainland China. And as NMA points out, the company produces far more than just Apple products. It also makes products for HP, Nokia, Nintendo, and Sony.
A recent China Labor Watch report explained that the electronics maker has apparently improved its labor conditions. But it also warns that if “brand companies are unwilling to increase their order prices, these labor reforms will not be sustainable.”
