I thought it’s called iPad 3, we always call it that before.”  Li Qi (not his real name) looked at the news about release of the new iPad on the Internet, felt proud and somewhat worried.  As a Shenzhen Longhua Foxconn factory worker, he was involved in the production of the iPad 2 and the new iPad.

He is worried about the iPad sales, if sales do not increase, he might be sent to help the iPhone production.  He said in an interview with First Financial Daily, right before announcement of the new release, their production line can produce 150 units of the new iPad in an hour.  Currently, he takes one day off per week.  When he worked on iPhone 4S, he only took 1 to 2 days off in a month and often worked overtime until 8 pm.  Ever since March he and his workmates already took three days off.  Which he felt a little uneasy about it.

According to Cathay, a factory manager stole its secrets and started a rival company that has begun selling a suspiciously similar ingredient, undermining Cathay’s profits. Instead of planning to go public, Cathay is now struggling to stay in business.

In this counterfeit-friendly nation, employees run off with manufacturing designs almost daily. But according to Cathay, this was copying with a special twist: the new competitor, Hilead Biotech, is backed by the Chinese government.