Explosion Creates Potential iPad Production Loss of 500,000 Units as Foxconn Briefly Shuts All Polishing Lines

foxconn chengdu firefighters
Research firm IHS iSuppli yesterday issued a report estimating the potential iPad 2 production loss due to the explosion at its Chengdu, China plant at up to 500,000 units. The estimated shortfall comes after Foxconn reportedly reassured suppliers that production will continue.

While most iPad 2 production takes place at another Foxconn facility in Shenzhen, that plant may not be able to compensate for all the lost output in the second quarter at the Chengdu site. The Shenzhen facility at present has capacity to produce 7.5 million units in the second quarter - iSuppli forecasts 7.4 million iPad 2 units will be shipped out during this period. To support these shipments, Foxconn must manufacture a larger quantity of devices, at between 7.8 and 8.1 million units during the second quarter. This means that Foxconn's shipments will fall short of expected levels by between 300,000 and 600,000 units in the second quarter.

Preliminary investigations into the cause of the blast have pinpointed a buildup of combustible dust in the facility's ventilation system, and The Wall Street Journal reports that Foxconn has temporarily shut down polishing workshops at all of its facilities for testing in order to ensure that similar explosions do not occur elsewhere. Three workers were killed and over a dozen others were injured in the Chengdu blast.

A spokesman for Hon Hai said the company's tests at the affected workshops could last two days. "The workshops could be back online as soon as they pass the test," he said.

Foxconn has indicated that it has ample supplies of polished parts to carry it through the brief shutdown, suggesting that the testing will have little impact on the company's production capacity. The same can not be said for the damaged Chengdu production lines, as it will undoubtedly take time to sort out the events and restart production. The company does, however, have significant flexibility with its huge number of production lines at a number of different facilities, and its ability to move quickly on construction projects means that it could have the Chengdu plant back up and running in relatively short order.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
Global Close Your Rings Day Pin

Apple Stores Giving Away a Limited-Edition Pin For Free Today

Thursday April 24, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Starting today, April 24, Apple Stores around the world are giving away a special pin for free to customers who request one, while supplies last. Photo Credit: Filip Chudzinski The enamel pin's design is inspired by the Global Close Your Rings Day award in the Activity app, which Apple Watch users can receive by closing all three Activity rings today. The limited-edition pin is the physical...
Apple Logo Spotlight Blue

White House Hits Back at Apple's Massive EU Fine

Thursday April 24, 2025 5:57 am PDT by
Apple's $570 million fine from the EU has triggered a sharp rebuke from the White House, which called the fine a form of economic extortion, Reuters reports. The fine was announced on Wednesday by the European Commission, following a formal investigation into Apple's compliance with the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark piece of legislation aimed at curbing the market dominance of ...
ipad air magic keyboard feature

iPadOS 19 Rumored to Show Mac-Like Menu Bar When Connected to Magic Keyboard

Thursday April 24, 2025 12:09 pm PDT by
When an iPad running iPadOS 19 is connected to a Magic Keyboard, a macOS-like menu bar will appear on the screen, according to the leaker Majin Bu. This change would further blur the lines between the iPad and the Mac. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously claimed that iPadOS 19 will be "more like macOS," with unspecified improvements to productivity, multitasking, and app window management,...

Top Rated Comments

RafaelT Avatar
182 months ago
Workers are killed and injured and the headline reads of production loss. :/ Something not right here.

How long are we supposed to focus on that before we can worry about the other issues that came from this accident.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RafaelT Avatar
182 months ago

You can focus on whatever

Some people have civility is all.

So if u want to complain that your iPad 2 will be even harder to get go right ahead.

I have a little violin playing for u when ur ready
By your logic this world basically just needs to stop and mourn. There is bad stuff happening all the time.

Humans have the ability to multi task, we can feel bad about a bad incident but still gather information about it about and deal with the result off that incident. We don't have to mourn for a certain period of time before that.

iPad production isn't just about the consumers getting the iPad's in their hands, what about all those workers who can't work while the investigation is going on? You think Foxconn is paying them? I guarantee they are not.

Anyway I am not going to let this turn into a debate about what is right and wrong and ruin the thread, I said my part and will not reply to anymore concerning this.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
*LTD* Avatar
182 months ago
Workers are killed and injured and the headline reads of production loss. :/ Something not right here.

MR and others have covered the tragedy in terms of worker injury already. We know what happened (more or less), and we're aware that some were injured and that there were fatalities.

It's now time to shift the focus to the tech/market perspective.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tCruzin4lyfe Avatar
182 months ago
It may help if u actually read the article genius.

Investigation ruled out foul play.

I suppose you think 9/11 was a govt conspiracy? Rofl this guy!



You can focus on whatever

Some people have civility is all.

So if u want to complain that your iPad 2 will be even harder to get go right ahead.

I have a little violin playing for u when ur ready

We have a violin playing right now for you & people who have this so called "civility" . It's a tech site, nobody is down playing the injuries or deaths but at the same time, that's life and it's not some major disaster. Advisers happen like this more often than most people think.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Thunderhawks Avatar
182 months ago


There is no way such an incident foes not affect total numbers. They are already running full tilt as it is.

The Chinese should be furious such an explosion has occurred. This kind of thing is what drove unions to form in the USA in the 1930s: worker safety and working conditions.
Your statement implies that nobody cares that there are accidents in China (or elsewhere).
Obviously any company that has to produce millions of devices makes sure that nothing explodes and jeopardizes their profits.
Unions could not have done a thing about this accident. They probably wouldn't even have had anybody with the expertise to analyze the venting process.
The fact that FoxConn is now testing its other facilities IMO shows that they were unaware of this possible danger and I am sure that from now on this area will get special attention and be monitored with re-written procedures, possibly additional equipment. Whatever it takes.

Again, they are taking this pre-caution not to jeopardize their profits.

Since everything in the end is always about money, sadly the underlying reason is not the fact that workers died.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
boshii Avatar
182 months ago
Workers are killed and injured and the headline reads of production loss. :/ Something not right here.

You must've missed this article. https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1156372

It would be pointless to make two posts about the deaths. At the end of the day, the bottom line (iPad production) will be the main focus.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)