Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, which assembles products for firms including Apple, said it would sharply increase its use of automated equipment in its factories. The company plans to have 300,000 robots by next year, Chairman Terry Gou was quoted as saying by local media. Foxconn currently has 10,000 machines doing basic manufacturing work. The company has had major labour issues in the past such as wage disputes and worker suicides. Mr Gou's comments were made at a staff gathering in Longhua and were first reported by the China Business News and the Financial Times newspaper. The company has since released a statement, saying that Mr Gou wanted to move 1 million employees "higher up the value chain". In the statement, Mr Gou added that the move towards automation was aimed at shifting "workers from more routine tasks to more value-added positions in manufacturing such as research and development, innovation and other areas that are equally important to...