The Brazilian iPad is expected to be released next year.
Minister Aloísio Mercadante's prediction that the products would be in stores by Christmas was denied by a union in Jundiaí, where the Brazilian unit of the manufacturer Foxconn is located.
The Apple tablets that were supposed to be produced in Brazil this semester and reach the market by Christmas, according to a forecast made in June by the Minister of Science and Technology, Aloizio Mercadante, will be delayed.
According to the director of the Metalworkers Union of Jundiaí and Region, Evandro Oliveira Santos, although 800 people have already been selected to work at the iPad, iPhone, and iPod factory in Jundiaí, the new unit located at kilometer 66 of the Anhanguera Highway is not yet operational.
“We already anticipated this. The iPads produced here should reach the market in 2012, not this year,” he stated. “The factory is already selecting and will begin hiring,” said the union representative. The union expects that 3 people will be hired.
The investment announced by the Taiwanese multinational in Brazil, during President Dilma Rousseff's visit to China in April, was R$ 12 billion.
Foxconn's press office maintained its position that it will not comment on the matter and that the information released is not official. Foxconn already has a license from the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company (Cetesb) for the installation, and there is already activity at the site chosen for the construction of the warehouse that will house the production of tablets and smartphones.
The city hall informed that the request for a permit to operate the new Foxconn warehouse was made on July 14th, but it has not yet been approved by the administration, which is awaiting some of the documentation.