“The iPhone 6 seems to be running into the same old story — not enough supply to meet demand,” Lance Whitney reports for CNET. Apple supplier Foxconn has brought more factory workers on board to make the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus at its plant in Zhengzhou, China. But the complexities of manufacturing both phones appear to be taking their toll, the Wall Street Journal said Wednesday, citing the usual ‘people familiar with the matter.'”
“More than 200,000 Foxconn workers are stationed at the Zhengzhou factory with the sole job of assembling the new iPhones and some of its key components, the Journal said,” Whitney reports. “The plant is also running 100 production lines 24 hours a day to keep up with demand for the new phones. So what exactly is the problem?”
“Foxconn is the only supplier manufacturing the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus and is responsible for most of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 units,” Whitney reports. “Another problem reportedly rests with flaws in the production output. The percentage of successful iPhone 6 Plus units assembled is only around 50 percent to 60 percent, a person at a display component supplier told the Journal. That means Foxconn has to throw out the units that don’t meet quality standards. The iPhone 6 fares better with a successful production rate of more than 85 percent.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Apple’s new iPhone 6/Plus become tourist attractions – September 20, 2014
iPhone 6/Plus hit with ‘unprecedented demand’ as analysts attempt to gauge first-weekend sales – September 19, 2014
Apple iPhone 6/Plus sales primed to set new all-time smartphone record – if supply allows – September 19, 2014
CNN: Apple’s iPhone 6 goes on sale, and the lines are insane; iPhone 6 passes first public drop test – September 19, 2014
Citigroup: Demand is off the charts for Apple’s 64-bit Phone 6/Plus – September 19, 2014
iPhone 6/Plus queues far larger than for iPhone 5/5s launches – September 19, 2014
Mother of all upgrades: Huge crowds greet Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus – September 19, 2014
Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus debuts worldwide to long lines – September 19, 2014
Gold iPhone 6 Plus price hits $3,600 in China as delay fuels black market – September 18, 2014
I’d rather wait my month to get a 6 Plus that works to spec than deal with the problems associated with receiving a flawed unit due to sloppy post production inspections.
Who or what is the source of the WSJ story? How do you know it’s true, because someone says so?
Well now that the first day launch is over, all those Foxconn workers that have been waiting in lines around the world can get back to work. They’ll catch up soon.
Since when is assembling a larger phone harder than assambling the smaller of equal complexity..
I belive this just a bogus write up !
I believe it’s more complex due to newer tech and especially the larger higher density high def screen.
Scuttlebut we’ve heard says that Apple’s iPhone Plus display yields are “in the toilet” with “four or more out of every ten screens having to be thrown out.” Trusted sources told MacDailyNews that severe supply constraints for iPhone Plus will continue for “weeks, maybe months.” This “isn’t a case of [Apple] misjudging demand,” rather “it’s a case of 5.5-inch display yield.” – MacDailyNews, September 19, 2014
Read more in the full article here.
Developing a product is one thing. Manufacturing it is another. A successful company has to be able to do both. And in this case, large quantities. And efficiently with good margins. You would think that they would get better at this?
Really? Negative votes on an honest comment. Facts are facts. Fanboys.
And your follow up “fanboy” disdain just seals the deal. You are here to bait, not debate.
Who calls themselves King?
You’re not talking “facts”. You talking about your opinion and your complaint.
On “You would think that they would get better at this?”… I would suggest that no other company on the planet could come anywhere remotely close to meeting such a massive spike in demand for a product.
So there are temporary shortages. Then demand eases off to “merely” high, and getting a phone is no problem. What a non-issue. What an invalid complaint.
Well said.
As evidenced by responses to your post — Apple fanboys bruise EASILY and blinders block reality.
Apple develops highly integrated, cutting-edge products that challenge Apple’s assemblers. This is not the first time that the ramp up for a new product release has encountered some difficulties. But many millions of iPhone 6 units are reaching consumers in the first few days, so your negativity is overblown…thus the down votes on your comment.
I’m sure what doesn’t pass for Apple would be fine for Samsung. Did you ever see the quality of a Samsung phone? They let a lot of crap through and don’t have nowhere near Apple’s quality standards. I’d rather deal with waiting a bit than getting a shoddy Samsung phone. Apple has always been about high quality.
I suppose it’s the President’s fault.
Well, he has screwed up everything else he’s touched.
Why not blame him?
Yeah, screwed up and/or lied about.
Yes, it is a president’s fault: Richard Nixon. If he hadn’t have gone to China, neither would American jobs.
Of course, then we wouldn’t have been able to fund nearly as many government deficits with loans from others.
Ho ho, I’ve always felt the same way. I think Nixon did more harm with his China move than he ever did with Watergate. Then again, he WAS trying to leverage China against the Soviet Union.
It seems like these Presidents of ours have a tendency to do things without really contemplating the future consequences; like Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Africa. Stupid bastards.
You forgot the biggest war blunder of all — Vietnam.
Well Presidents have been making mistakes about Viet Nam since the Treaty of Versailles in 1918. You may have to be more specific.
anyone else have a problem getting the 6+ to switch into landscape mode?
Anyone having problems separating the goobers from the non-goobers?
Hold the phone so that the long edge is parallel to the ground, then bend over and ….
SOLVED!
You must be in Standard mode in
Settings > Display & Brightness > Display Zoom > Standard
to get:
landscape mode on the home screen
dual-pane email
extended keyboard in landscape mode (w/cut, copy and paste + keys)
The reality of production is that you learn lessons on the ramp up. The more difficult the product the longer it will take to improve the yields.
I have said this many times – only Apple can pull off this levee lot sophistication in the volumes we are looking at.
I ordered my iPhone 6 by Rogers on Tuesday . I picked it up in the Rogers store on Friday . No lines whatsoever . For me, it’s plenty big. The plus is way to big for me. So far, it’s excellent .