Amid slow iPad sales, Foxconn workers left in the lurch

(Ecns.cn)--Unsatisfactory sales of Apple's new iPad which was released on March 16 have resulted in time off without pay for many employees of Foxconn Technology Group, one of the major suppliers of the iPad, according to China Business News on Tuesday.

"We have already been asked to take ten days off this March, and if the situation continues, my salary this month will be no more than 2,000 yuan (US$317.1)," said Wang Xiaoqiao, a Foxconn employee in Shenzhen whose job is to assemble the iPad 3.

Wang was accustomed to working ten hours a day, but now is "lucky" to get eight, while most employees who once worked six days a week are now working four.

"Output and sales of the iPad are always behind the iPhone, and since the opening of the Chengdu factory, the output in Shenzhen has lessened," said Wang.

Moreover, many who bought the iPad 2 haven't shown much interest in the new iPad, as they see little difference between the two products.

Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook paid a surprise visit to one of the company's stores in Beijing, a sign that Apple plans to attach more importance to the huge Chinese market.