Foxconn's move highlights an increasing trend toward automation among Chinese companies as labor issues such as high-profile strikes and workers' suicides plague firms in sectors from autos to technology."Workers' wages are increasing so quickly that some companies can't take it longer," said Dan Bin, a fund manager at Shenzhen-based Eastern Bay Investment Management, which invests in technology and consumer-related shares in China and Hong Kong.
The China Business News on Monday quoted Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou as saying the company planned to use 1 million robots within three years, up from about 10,000 robots in use now and an expected 300,000 next year.
Foxconn, whose listed units include Hon Hai Precision and Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, issued a statement later saying Gou told staff at its campus in Longhua, China, that he planned to move its more than 1 million employees up the value chain beyond basic manufacturing work.
Since last year, China has been struck by a series of labor-related issues, such as high-profile strikes and suicide cases at well-known companies as heady economic growth fueled the need for wage increases.
In southern China, auto and parts factories owned by Japan's Honda Motor and Toyota Motor went on strike.
"Rising salary costs should be the key reason why Foxconn is doing this. At Foxconn, a worker fell to his death last month at a manufacturing plant in southern China, local media reported.
Foxconn employs about 1.2 million workers, one million of which are based in mainland China, the China Business News said.
Foxconn plans to buy a set-top plant in Mexico from Cisco Systems and is looking into investing more in Brazil, where it is already making mobile phone handsets.
On Monday, Hon Hai Precision's Taiwan shares rise 3.3 percent, while Foxconn's cellphone maker unit Foxconn International's Hong Kong shares ended up 4.3 percent.
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