An explosion that killed three people at Apple's Foxconn factory could cause the company to lose half a million iPad 2's in production.
According to Bloomberg, manufacturing losses will depend on the length of time the factory is closed, and will run even higher if production halts for over a month.
While Apple also makes iPad 2's at another Foxconn factory, it may still not be able to recoup the lost production. Though firm iSuppli forecast 7.4 million iPads to be shipped in this quarter, such a loss may cause Apple to fall short.
Another analyst predicted that the blast at Chengdu could make iPad 2 production drop by as much as 2.8 million units, a 36 percent fall. But, iSuppli says that as the explosion happened on the third floor of one building of the over 10 factories at the Chengdu plant, that Apple will only experience effects of the incident in the short term.
Foxconn has been notorious since the rash of employee suicides that were revealed last year. Though Apple later visited its factories to ensure that appropriate measures had been taken, a more recent report revealed the poor conditions remaining at Foxconn. Employees there were reportedly asked to sign pacts promising not to commit suicide.
Apple has not yet determined what caused the explosion, though preliminary investigations suggest that it was the result of a blast of combustible dust used in the polishing process.