“Apple fans may have to wait for weeks to get the new iPhones as Apple’s major assembler Foxconn appears to be struggling to boost its production to meet strong demand,” Lorraine Luk reports for The Wall Street Journal. “Foxconn has continued to hire more workers to assemble the two new iPhone models at its largest production site in Zhengzhou, north central China… The company has more than 200,000 workers in the Zhengzhou site, dedicated to just making new iPhones and key components such as metal casings.”
“The Taiwan-based manufacturer, which has more than one million workers in China, is operating about 100 production lines around the clock in Zhengzhou,” Luk reports. “The challenge is to manufacture two complicated new iPhones on a large scale at the same time because Foxconn is the sole assembler of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. It also makes the majority of the iPhone 6 that comes with a 4.7-inch display, the people said.”
“‘We have been churning out 140,000 iPhone 6 Plus and 400,000 iPhone 6 every day, the highest daily output ever, but the volume is still not enough to meet the preorders,’ said a person familiar with the matter,” Luk reports. “The production is complicated because the displays use in-cell technology. This allows the screens to be thinner and lighter by integrating touch sensors into the liquid crystal display, making it unnecessary to have a separate touch-screen layer, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz,” “Lynn Weiler,” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
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The Wall Street Journal reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6: ‘The best smartphone you can buy’ – September 16, 2014
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Prove it!
The stupid thing is, there is talk about China not getting it until next year and the share price dropping as a result, but if they can’t make enough to satisfy demand, how would adding in China improve that at all? Yes, they would be able to reallocate supply, but you’re still going to have lots of people having to wait, I would think that the vast majority of people, in China or not will do that.
I believe if you check you will find that the iPhone was not sold in China until right before the Chinese New Year. Their upgrade cycle, if two years, won’t be up until February.
I know that, but I was reading various bits and pieces that were complaining and saying that not getting it until 2015 would be bad for Apple. Obviously, as with most things that the tech media, they’ve not really thought it through beyond the initial knee jerk though. Obviously sooner would be better, but it’s not as if they’re struggling for sales as it is.
This happens every year with the iPhone so it should not surprise anyone. Frankly I would be worried if supply was meeting demand at the beginning.
There will always be news stories about apple not be able to do something. What is consistent is that every year Apple beats the previous record for sales. The press will finally realize that in a few months after all the FUD has run out.
Mine is in the hands of FedEx. AT&T handed over the pre-orders Sunday according to FedEx tracking with delivery guaranteed by 3PM CST Friday.
Boom Shaka Laka!
A troll who buys a iPhone? Are you sure it’s not a samdung s-something? You could get 6 or 7 samdung S10’s for the price of one iPhone. Or is all this so you can come out with your normal BS about Apple products?
1- I am not a troll.
2- You are trolling me for what reason I do not know.
3- Get a life.
I can not recall what you did to piss silverhawk1 of, but I too see some harassment. Please silverhawk1, I respectfully ask you to play nice or state your beef.
“A troll who buys a iPhone? ”
A troll who buys AN iPhone? College anyone?
College? I think you meant to ask “Primary school, anyone?”
It is a bitch to be jealous.
This inability to keep up with irrational demand will be seen as an impediment to Wall Street analysts. These freaking people act as if producing tens of millions of high-end devices is a yawn. I really don’t get where they think this type of production is done every day in the world. Apple’s production numbers would have to be unique even in today’s world considering the time constraints involved.
We’ve got these 30-year old analysts who’ve never been on a production line or maybe even been in a factory criticizing a company that’s able to orchestrate production of over a half a million units a day and we’re not talking about pieces of candy or cookies. I’m in my 60’s and have worked many different types of jobs from acquisition to production and I’m truly awestruck over what Apple can do. It’s nothing to be taken lightly no matter what anyone says. Apple deserves to be on top because it’s a very well-organized company that pays attention to the smallest details.
I feel really sad when I hear someone who orders an iPhone crying and whining because he can’t get the device same day he ordered it. They really don’t grasp a number like 10 million. Count out just ten thousand of something on your desk and see how painstaking it is. Apple is truly an amazing company when compared to any other company on the planet. Although I think Boeing would definitely have to be up there with them.
And some freaking pencil-neck analyst or industry pundit is going to bitch and tongue-wag if Apple sells 100 units short of 80 million iPhones. These people are practically useless to themselves or anyone else. It’s just absolutely sickening for me to listen to their BS.