According to a report by Brazilian website UOL, the Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology, Aloízio Mercadante, has confirmed during a hearing with the Commission of Economic Affairs that the new factory in Jundiaí is “ready”, and already making iPads that will begin shipping in Brazil starting this December.
At first many doubted, but it will be the first time that the company will produce iPads outside Chinese territory. We are taking a big step for digital inclusion in the country,” he said. Mercadante also said that the federal government will announce in the coming days to invest in a big factory of games in the Manaus Free Zone.
Originally scheduled for November, the availability of iPads made in Brazil is the result of a joint effort by the Brazilian government and Foxconn, maker of several Apple devices and peripherals including the iPhone and iPad. A first report from April suggested Foxconn would invest $12 billion in this new factory, with iPad production starting in late August / early September – the timeline seems correct. Additionally, it was reported in June Foxconn had already hired 175 engineers and sent them to China for training on how to build iPads.
