Brazil iPad Factory prepared to open
Earlier this year, Foxconn, which produces Apple’s popular tablet, announced plans to open an iPad assembly plant in Brazil, providing 100,000 direct and indirect jobs – and making Brazil the first country other than China to begin producing the tablet.
Foxconn chairman Terry Gou has confirmed that the new iPad factory in Jundiaí, São Paulo state, will be officially opened in December this year.
Brazil’s Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante announced that the new iPad assembly facility was up-and-running, with iPads expected to hit shelves in December – in time for Christmas.
Foxconn already has a number of facilities operating in Brazil, including cell phone assembly lines.
Those buying electronic products in Brazil will be hoping that the tax breaks and subsequent new investments will translate into a drop in prices, after years of having to swallow eye-watering prices for imported electronics goods.
In the same way, Brazil’s Apple fans will be hoping that producing iPads locally will close the vast difference in the price paid in Brazil, as compared with the U.S. for example.
Some say the price could fall by up to forty percent, which would be welcome as the cheapest iPad 2 on Apple’s Brazil-facing online store was retailing at US$932 (at the time of writing) with the same model in the U.S. store costing just US$499 – almost half the price. At US$829, the highest-spec iPad 2 is still cheaper in the U.S. than the lowest-spec model bought from Apple in Brazil.
