A blast that killed three workers at a Chinese factory that assembles Apple's iPad 2 tablet computer may not affect the device's availability, an official said. The explosion last week at the Foxconn factory in Chengu, capital of Sichuan province, also injured 16 people, China's Peoples Daily reported. The explosion is not expected to delay iPad 2 production, Tai-Ming Gou, chairman of Foxconn parent company Hon Hai, said Sunday.
Analysts say they expect the explosion will have a minimal impact on production if an additional factory in Shenzhen could handle production of the iPad or the Chengdu factory could be restored quickly, CNET reported. "[Apple's] iPad 2 is entirely assembled in China by Foxconn. The Chengdu plant accounts for two-thirds of Foxconn's iPad capacity," said Tong Bin, an analyst with Shanghai-based iResearch Consulting Group.
The Ipad 2 computer is the most important product for Apple Inc. globally this year, he said. The market impact of the explosion will likely be short-term, he said. "What is uncertain is how long the investigation process will take. It depends on how Foxconn and Apple work with the local government."
