iPhone 6產能吃緊？機器人來幫忙

????你的下一部智能手機，很有可能是由機器人組裝的。

????據臺灣媒體IT Home報道稱，蘋果供應商富士康顯然已接近于用機器人取代其生產線上的部分人力。富士康將這些已經進入最后測試階段的機器人稱為“foxbots”。擔任富士康臺灣母公司首席執行官的郭臺銘在最近召開的股東大會上表示，公司預計將引進約1萬臺foxbots，來幫助跟上蘋果最新手機iPhone 6的供貨需求。該機型有望于今年秋季上市。

????這批機器人據悉每臺的造價高達2.5萬美元，一名機器人每年大約能組裝近3萬部設備。這意味著第一批機器人的年產能將達到約3億部。富士康目前在中國各大工廠總共雇用了約120萬名員工。在中國，富士康員工曾舉行過游行示威，抗議低工資和糟糕的工作條件，甚至還出現了數起工人自殺事件。

????富士康使用機器人的消息已談不上是什么新聞，公司在2011年就曾透露將開始在生產線上使用更多的機器人，甚至預言機器人的數量將在2014年達到100萬臺。

????去年10月，蘋果曾在年度報告中表示，公司計劃投入約105億美元開發新供應鏈技術，其中包括用于組裝生產線的機器人。（財富中文網）

????There’s a chance your next smartphone could be assembled by a robot.

????Apple supplier Foxconn is apparently close to replacing some of the assembly-line workers in its factories with robots, called “foxbots,” that are in their final testing stages, according to IT Home. Terry Gou, the CEO of Taiwan-based supplier’s parent company, said in a recent shareholder meeting that about 10,000 foxbots are expected to be put to work to help keep up with the demand for Apple’s next smartphone, the iPhone 6, which is expected to hit the market this fall.

????The robots reportedly cost as much as $25,000 each and they can churn out roughly 30,000 devices each annually, which would mean a yield of about 300 million devices a year from the first batch. Foxconn currently employs about 1.2 million humans in several factories across China, where workers in the past have protested low wages and poor conditions, with some workers even committing suicide.

????The news from Foxconn is a long time coming, as the company said in 2011 it would begin to use more robots on its assembly lines and even predicted at the time that it would have about a million robots at work by 2014.

????In October, Apple said in its annual report that the company planned to spend roughly $10.5 billion on new supply-chain technologies, including assembly robots.