10,000 robots to be used on new iPhone 6

MacRumors has done a roundup of iPhone 6 rumors, and reported that the new phone will come in two models: 4.7” and 5.5”, and will be released starting this September.

The new phone will be faster¹, lighter, and thinner than the iPhone 5S. Other features may include image stabilization for the camera, support for the faster 802.11ac wifi standard, and fingerprint sensors. And Foxconn will utilize at least 10,000 robots in the manufacturing process.

MacDailyNews reports that “Foxconn parent company Hon Hai is set to deploy an army of 10,000 assembly-line robots to help meet the demands of producing the iPhone 6 … Hon Hai CEO Terry Gou revealed in a recent shareholder meeting that Apple would be the very first customer of Foxconn’s latest robots . . . Named ‘Foxbots,’ each robot will be able to assemble an average of 30,000 devices and costs anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000 to make. Gou stated that the assembly devices are undergoing their final testing phase.”

“Robots are going to enhance and speed up the manufacturing process,” said Tim Bajarin, CEO of market research firm Creative Strategies in an interview in The Week.” The really big issue here is that the demand for the iPhone continues to grow. It’s grown every quarter since it came out. From a business standpoint, it makes sense. When you are dealing with creating millions of smart phones per month, efficiency is critical. Robotics gives you that level of efficiency, which in the end, is very important for the bottom line.”

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¹ The CPU chip won’t be manufactured by Samsung. Instead, it will likely be a 20-nanometer A8 chip from TSMC with an expected 30+% improvement over the iPhone 5S chip.

Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.

Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.