Apple Supplier Factory Explosion Injures 57 Workers, Could Affect iPad 2 Supply

[btarunr]

Issues of labour-welfare and ethical-sourcing are back to haunt Apple, as one of its key foundry partners, Pegatron, reported an explosion at its facilities of Riteng Computer Accessory Company, Shanghai. The explosion injured 57 workers in all, hospitalising 23, while leaving 34 more with minor injuries. No deaths are reported so far. This facility manufactures the aluminum bodies of iPad 2, the incident is similar in nature to a previous one earlier this year, caused by improper exhaustion of combustible bi-products.

Pegatron CFO Charles Lin confirmed to the press, the number of people injured, the extant of their injuries, and what is being done. He went on to detail the current state of the facility. "The factory has not started operations yet. Part of the facility is still under pre-operation inspection and part is running trial production." Meanwhile, Apple expressed its condolences. In a statement, it said "Our hearts go out to the people who were hurt in Songjiang. We are working closely with Pegatron to understand the cause of this accident." This incident could affect supply of iPad 2.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Andrei23]

It would seem that an apple a day did not keep the explosion away

 

[DannibusX]

Pegatron.

Didn't they used to be a subsidiary of ASUS?

Hope all can recover completely and quickly.

 

[heky]

Pegatron.

Didn't they used to be a subsidiary of ASUS?

Hope all can recover completely and quickly.

Yup, Pegatron is a ASUS spin-off. Its Asus renamed.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Yup, Pegatron is a ASUS spin-off. Its Asus renamed.

Or you can say they....

Peg'd it!


Yes - I know that was a terrible one liner.....

 

[qubit]

Looks like Apple employs some very dodgy factories to build their stuff. :shadedshu

 

[Frick]

Looks like Apple employs some very dodgy factories to build their stuff. :shadedshu

Not sure about that, Pegatron does tons of things for tons of companies. You might as well say the same about every single electronics manufacturer in the world. And we don't know what caused the explosion, could be a lot of things.

 

[GSquadron]

I knew this though. That would happen the same with microsoft if bill gates dies
Someone programs quite well with money

 

[scaminatrix]

Just looks like a replay of the HDD price-hike oppurtunity. If few people were injured and no-one was killed, then it won't be that serious of an explosion to massively hamper production. But guaranteed it will still be used as an excuse to jack prices up.

RAM has become stupidly cheap within the last year - watch out for the same thing happening there too

 

[Widjaja]

If Apple plan to hike the price up of their product due to this explosion, it's going to be pretty expensive.

Although I don't thinks it's going to deter people who want the product.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Issues of labour-welfare and ethical-sourcing are back to haunt Apple, as one of its key foundry partners, Pegatron, reported an explosion at its facilities of Riteng Computer Accessory Company, Shanghai. The explosion injured 57 workers in all, hospitalising 23, while leaving 34 more with minor injuries. No deaths are reported so far. This facility manufactures the aluminum bodies of iPad 2, the incident is similar in nature to a previous one earlier this year, caused by improper exhaustion of combustible bi-products.

Pegatron CFO Charles Lin confirmed to the press, the number of people injured, the extant of their injuries, and what is being done. He went on to detail the current state of the facility. "The factory has not started operations yet. Part of the facility is still under pre-operation inspection and part is running trial production." Meanwhile, Apple expressed its condolences. In a statement, it said "Our hearts go out to the people who were hurt in Songjiang. We are working closely with Pegatron to understand the cause of this accident." This incident could affect supply of iPad 2.

[url]http://www.techpowerup.com/img/11-12-19/77b_thm.jpg[/URL] [url]http://www.techpowerup.com/img/11-12-19/77a_thm.jpg[/URL]

Sources: Reuters, MICGadget, Sina.com.cn

Sucks as those poor guys will never be able to afford the parts that darn near killed em. Anyway I wish them a speedy recovery.

 

[Fx]

Not sure about that, Pegatron does tons of things for tons of companies. You might as well say the same about every single electronics manufacturer in the world. And we don't know what caused the explosion, could be a lot of things.

my first 'jump to conclusion' is that it was caused by a disgruntled worker

Milton strikes again!

 

[1freedude]

I'm a safety dude at a big plant, and I can only imagine what they are going through. If something happens at a different plant, we look at our practices more intensely.

Best of luck

 

[trickson]

Oh ... Thank God it was China not the USA . Oh yeah Apple is made in China ! Well nothing to see here !

 

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

Must be the batteries

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Must be the batteries

HAHA QFT Iphones dont explode - their batteries do!

 

[trickson]

Made in china !