Foxconn tapped for Kindle Fire, Nook tablet production

It looks like Apple Inc.'s iPad won't be the only big-name tablet that Taiwan-based electronics maker Foxconn will be making at its facilities.

 

Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) will also undertake the production of the Kindle Fire and Nook tablets, according to a report on Taiwan-based tech site DigiTimes.

 

DigiTimes said Foxconn has obtained ODM (original design manufacturer) orders for the 10-inch Kindle Fire from Amazon and will begin shipments in the second quarter of 2012.

 

Another manufacturer, Wistron is likely to start ODM production of Nook Tablet for Barnes & Noble, DigiTimes quoted Taiwan-based supply chain makers as saying.

 

Presently, DigiTimes quoted its sources as saying Quanta Computer and Inventec are the ODMs of the 7-inch Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet respectively.

 

"Vendors usually choose only one ODM when launching a new product, but will seek additional ODMs to reduce risks and for price negotiations if the new product receives good market response, the sources indicated," DigiTimes said.

 

Foxconn had initially been tagged as Taiwan's assembler of Appir's iPad tablet.

 

But Foxconn had found itself entangled in a controversy involving labor rights, prompting a voluntary audit conducted by tthe US Fair Labor Association.

 

DigiTimes cited figures from IHS iSuppli showing Amazon sold 3.9 million Kindle Fires and Barnes & Noble sold 1.92 million Nook Tablets in the fourth quarter of 2011.

 

Its research arm forecast fewer than 1.5 million Kindle Fires and 300,000 Nook Tablets will be shipped in the first quarter of 2012. — TJD, GMA News