Premature deindustrialization proceeds apace

The South China Morning Post reports that iPhone maker Foxconn has replaced more than half of its workforce with robots since the launch of the iPhone 6. The figures were provided by the local government in Kunshan, where the company is based.

“The Foxconn factory has reduced its employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000, thanks to the introduction of robots. It has tasted success in reduction of labour costs,” said the department’s head Xu Yulian … 

Since September 2014, more than 500 companies in the Chinese province of Dongguan have spent a total of $630M on robot and AI technology to replace human workers. It was reported back in January that Foxconn had received a $12M government subsidy to help minimize layoffs in response to reduced iPhone orders.

Here is more, via Kurt Busboom.  And, via “anon from cl”, there is this from Adidas:

Adidas, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, has announced it will start marketing its first series of shoes manufactured by robots in Germany from 2017.

More than 20 years after Adidas ceased production activities in Germany and moved them to Asia, chief executive Herbert Hainer unveiled to the press the group’s new prototype “Speedfactory” in Ansbach, southern Germany.

The 4,600-square-metre plant is still being built but Adidas opened it to the press, pledging to automate shoe production – which is currently done mostly by hand in Asia – and enable the shoes to be made more quickly and closer to its sales outlets.

Here is my recent paper on premature deindustrialization.

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