Foxconn Adds More Workers to Assembly Lines as iPhone 5s Supplies Continue to Improve
Yesterday, a survey published yesterday by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster stated that the iPhone 5s is approaching 90% availability in Apple's U.S. retail stores, with supply begin to match consumer demand of the device.
Now, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the shortened wait times for the high-end iPhone is due in part to supplier Foxconn and its high volume production, with the company adding more workers to its assembly lines in China as its overall production capacity grows.
The Taiwan-based contract manufacturer, which has more than one million workers in China, has operated 100 production lines around the clock in Zhengzhou, north central China, at full capacity, according to executives at Hon Hai. The company has about 300,000 workers at its Zhengzhou site, dedicated to just making the iPhone 5S and key components such as metal casings.
To get a glimpse of just how complicated it is to manufacture the iPhone 5S, Hon Hai executives said the company has about 600 workers on each iPhone 5S production line to handle assembly work.
“We have been churning out about 500,000 iPhone 5Ss everyday, the highest daily output ever,” said the executive who declined to be named.
The executive cited in the report also stated that it takes a longer time to assemble an iPhone 5s compared to the iPhone 5c or previous generation iPhone 5, with only 500 workers per production line to assemble the two lower-end devices.
Notably, a report from Digitimes earlier this month stated that the Zhengzhou factory would be ceasing production of the iPhone 5c to shift the facility's manufacturing efforts toward the iPhone 5s. Foxconn was also previously estimated to be operating at only a minimum capacity of 8-9,000 iPhone 5c units per day.
Originally released in September, supplies of the iPhone 5s remained somewhat constrained following the launch, with the bulk of stock tending to go to Apple's own retail stores. However, while supplies continued to be scarce during September and October, they have appeared to generally improved throughout November, with several colors and capacities of the iPhone 5s available for immediate pick up in Apple Stores in the United States.
Popular Stories
Apple released iOS 16.3 in late January following nearly six weeks of beta testing. The software update is available for the iPhone 8 and newer, and while it is a relatively minor update, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes.
Below, we've recapped new features in iOS 16.3, including support for physical security keys as a two-factor authentication option for...
Online retailer TigerDirect has slashed pricing on the M1 iPad Air in several colors, offering the base 64GB configuration for just $313.99 in Purple and Pink.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with TigerDirect. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
That's a savings of 48% compared to Apple's normal $599.00...
Apple's next device with an Apple silicon chip may not be a Mac or an iPad, but rather an advanced external display, according to recent reports.
The display, which is rumored to arrive this year, is expected to sit somewhere between the $1,599 Studio Display and the $4,999 Pro Display XDR – but more exact information about the device's positioning and price point is as yet unknown. While ...
Apple has discussed selling a new top-of-the-line iPhone alongside the Pro and Pro Max models in 2024 at the earliest, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this timeframe, the device would be part of the iPhone 16 lineup or later.
In a September 2022 edition of his weekly "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said there was "potential" for an iPhone 15 Ultra to replace the iPhone 15 Pro...
Apple's VP of hardware engineering Matthew Costello and product marketing employee Alice Chan recently spoke with Men's Journal and TechCrunch about the new second-generation HomePod in wide-ranging interviews about the smart speaker.
Apple discontinued the original full-size HomePod in March 2021 after multiple reports indicated that sales of the speaker were lackluster, but Chan told Men's ...
Google's Chromium developers are working on an experimental web browser for iOS that would break Apple's browser engine restrictions, The Register reports.
The experimental browser, which is being actively pursued by developers, uses Google's Blink engine. Yet if Google attempted to release it on the App Store, it would not pass Apple's App Review process.
Apple's App Store rules dictate...
Apple appears to be preparing an iOS 16.3.1 update for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs this week. It's unclear when the update will be released, but it will likely be available at some point in February.
The same logs have accurately foreshadowed the release of several previous updates, including iOS 16.0.3 and iOS 16.1.1 most recently, so they...
Today is the official launch day for the second-generation HomePod that was introduced in January, and we picked one up to compare it to the original HomePod that Apple discontinued in 2021.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Design wise, the second-generation HomePod looks a lot like the first-generation model, featuring the same rounded design and acoustic mesh...
Top Rated Comments
How much demand was there for the 4s this time last year? Much less than the demand for the 5c right now, I'd wager.
What people must understand is that the 5c is not a new product: it's a watered down (plastic cover), glittered up (colors, ads) version of the iPhone 5.
It's selling exactly as well as it is expected to.
I'm 100% sure Apple has far exceeded all expected sales of the iPhone 5c. It just doesn't appeal to the MacRumors demographic but I can tell you the 5c is outselling all Android phones easily.
Cause and effect seems a bit muddled there.
i'm still surprised so few understand this.
Shh...don't try to explain supply-demand issues here, you'll get attacked by "smart" people.
If the offered the iphone 5, many of the 5S customers would buy the 5 instead of the 5S :D. Margins are better on the 5S, so they made the right decision. The product may be a flop, but it fulfiled its purpose.