Foxconn's Future One Million Strong Robot Army

Dino Grandoni

Don't read this on your iPhone if you're standing in the unemployment line--the irony might kill you. Chinese electronics maker Foxconn--most famous in the West for manufacturing the iPhone, iPad, and other Apple products--announced that it plans to replace some of its workers with one million robots by 2014, according to TechCrunch. The company currently has 10,000 robo-workers versus Foxconn's 1.2 million fleshy, human employees. As you might expect, the robots will be deployed mainly to do repetitive tasks like spraying and welding.

RELATED: The Fallout from Foxconn's Deadly Explosion

Foxconn (and by extension Apple) has come under scrutiny over the past couple years for poor labor practices, culminating in a Wired cover story last spring that highlighted the 17 suicides at Foxconn factories in the past half decade.