Robot Mass Unemployment Delayed as Million IPhone Building Robots at Foxconn delayed a decade or more

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Foxconn is planning to install 10,000 Foxbots to produce the iPhone, and each robot can assemble an average of 30,000 devices a year. The robots, which will cost between $20,000 and $25,000 each, could turn out large savings for Foxconn, which currently employs more than 1 million workers across its various factories in China.

Foxconn will have to hire 100,000 new workers to help build the Apple iPhone 6.

In 2011, Foxconn had said they would build 1 million robots by 2014 and perhaps replace half of their workers.

Foxconn is now targeting to add some 30,000 robots annually. This will delay the mass unemployment by robots by a decade or more.

Foxconn CEO Gou was dissatisfied with his first generation Foxbots. They were not up to snuff in terms of proficiency and flexibility. Generation two is forthcoming.

If business wants to use far fewer workers for manufacturing or construction or retail then the entire system has to be altered to achieve greater productivity.

Amazon has very efficient robotic warehouses but Costco generates more revenue per employee and has lower operating expenses.

Costco minimizes how often a human touches a product by dealing with pallet sized quantities throughout most of the supply chain. Costco also skims the cream and only sells the hottest selling products.

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