The robots will be used to do simple and routine work such as spraying, welding and assembling which are now mainly conducted by workers, said Gou

Xinhuanet reports that Foxconn will be replacing some of its workers with 1 million robots in the next three years to cut rising labor costs and improve efficiency.

The company currently has 10,000 robots and employs 1.2 million people. It's not clear how many jobs will be replaced by the robots.

Foxconn is Apple's primary partner in assembling the popular iPod, iPad, and iPhone lines and has been criticized for poor working conditions that may have contributed to a series of suicides at the plant.

In April, Engadget had previously pointed to this concept model FRIDA by ABB as the likely models for Foxconn, though the new report doesn't specify.