KUNSHAN, JIANGSU, CHINA -- Foxconn reportedly has replaced as many as 70,000 workers at its sprawling campus with robots.

The company has invested significant sums to cut human headcount, a local government official said.

In doing so, the number of workers Foxconn employs here has dropped to 50,000 from 110,000. "It has tasted success in reduction of labor costs," said Xu Yulian, a spokesperson for the Kunshan government publicity department.

Manufacturers are responding to changes in demand, particularly for electronics. Local laptop manufacturing output is now about 50 million units a year, down from a high 120 million, officials said. About 20 million smartphones were built locally last year, bridging some of the gap.

Still, overall production is lagging, leading several hundred manufacturing firms to consider robots or other artificial intelligence to replace live workers.