The iPhone 5 is set to experience further delays in reaching consumers as Apple's main manufacturing partner, Foxconn, has admitted that it's failing to meet the firm's production demands for the smartphone.
According to the manufacturer's chairman Terry Gou, Foxconn simply can't make them fast enough. "It's not easy to make the iPhones," he stated. "We are falling short of meeting the huge demand."
While he didn't specify which model is proving to warrant such a demand, it's undoubtedly the latest iPhone model, especially when you consider previous reports of the smartphone's production delays.
Last month, an anonymous Foxconn worker stressed that assembling the iPhone 5 was "very complicated". The firm described the handset as "the most difficult device that Foxconn has ever assembled."
With the iPhone 5 being taller and slimmer than the iPhone 4S via a 4-inch screen, as well as having a smaller dock connector, an unnamed worker told the Wall Street Journal that "It takes time to learn how to make this new device. Practice makes perfect. Our productivity has been improving day by day."
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Zak Islam is a freelance writer focusing on security, networking, and general computing. His work also appears at Digital Trends and Tom's Guide.
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Gundam288 Where is the demand coming from? Consumers or Apple? I think it's coming from Apple and not the consumer, but maybe that's just me over thinking it.Reply
(keep in mind apple needs spares for replacements and etc.) -
cats_Paw Call me cynical, but i think this is just a way to advertise the iphone. If they could not do it, there would not be an iphone 5, since there is, they surely can.Reply -
RealJames Cats_PawCall me cynical, but i think this is just a way to advertise the iphone. If they could not do it, there would not be an iphone 5, since there is, they surely can.Reply
+1 that comment
big advertisement
marginally "news" -
cookoy Didn't they do time-and-motion studies on assembling these devices to come up with an estimate of how much they can do in a month? They did not say they could not do the iphones but only that they can't do them fast enough to meet the big demand.Reply -
killerclick Cats_PawCall me cynical, but i think this is just a way to advertise the iphone. If they could not do it, there would not be an iphone 5, since there is, they surely can.Lol, as if iPhone 5 needs that kind of advertising. It's Microsoft and Surface that have to pretend their crap device is sold out, Apple has a solid track record of coming out with consumer devices that customers want to buy. They don't have to prove anything to anybody.Reply -
clubsaucekiller Gundam288Where is the demand coming from? Consumers or Apple? I think it's coming from Apple and not the consumer, but maybe that's just me over thinking it.(keep in mind apple needs spares for replacements and etc.)I'm afraid the "shipped, not sold" reports are the domain of the Android manufacturers.Reply -
Fabel For a few weeks now I bypass most of the Apple "news" and just check one every now and then just to see if again is another Zak Islam waste of time.Reply
I like Apple news, when there really are news. Sadly once more here it is, ZI. After so many years of Tom's I'm getting tired. -
krowbar FabelFor a few weeks now I bypass most of the Apple "news" and just check one every now and then just to see if again is another Zak Islam waste of time.I like Apple news, when there really are news. Sadly once more here it is, ZI. After so many years of Tom's I'm getting tired.Zak iSlam may be more appropriate then?Reply -
besplatan killerclickIt's Microsoft and Surface that have to pretend their crap device is sold outReply
They're not pretending any more, all models are back in stock at Microsoft Store. It was a painfully transparent ploy to make developers think people are buying Metro devices. I guess Microsoft ran out of sheep pretty quickly. -
kinggraves Yes, I'm sure the iPhone 5 is such an advanced maze of parts that Even YuGiOh couldn't solve this puzzle. It couldn't have anything to do with whiny Foxconn workers trying to get more raises. It certainly wouldn't be an attempt to make their product seem advanced in the storm of complaints from Apple zealots starting to come down from the kool aid and realize they don't need a new Idevice every 6 months. It's probably not overblowing the fact that they have to adjust to learning how to build every new device they make. Nope, it's just a terrible and needlessly complicated design for a product that lacks as many ports and parts as it's competition offers.Reply
Pst, BTW Foxconn workers, might want to complain less. Those robots look more and more tempting for management every day.