The concept that working inside a Foxconn factory might not be all sunshine and rainbows isn’t entirely new, but an interview with a Foxconn employee reveals one unusual quirk; it’s a lot harder working building the iPhone 4S than it is the iPad.
Business Insider reports on an interview that it states is translated from Chinese (and there are some language irregularities, to be sure) with a Foxconn worker called Li Qi — although for the purposes of him keeping his Foxconn job, that’s not his real name.
Foxconn workers were among those surprised by Apple’s naming convention for the new iPad, stating that internally
“I thought it’s called iPad 3, we always call it that before.”
The new iPad was in mass production since the start of the year — which would explain many of the part product leaks that let the details of the new tablet emerge — and Li Qi notes that production’s been seriously ramped up:
“Comparing these two generation products’ pipeline work station setup, now there are over 30 of them. There were not that many for iPad 2.”
Li Qi also notes that producing iPads is a lot easier than producing iPhone 4S handsets:
“Start working at 7 am, have to get up before 6 am everyday. Not even 10 minutes of break during a day’s work, 3 hours in the morning and 4-6 hours afternoon.”
Comparatively, on the iPad production line, Li Qi could expect two to three 10 minute breaks other than lunchtime. [Business Insider]