MacRumors

Reuters reports on a riot that broke out earlier today at Foxconn's facilities in Taiyuan, China, forcing the company to temporarily shutter the plant as it cleans up the damage and investigates the situation. The cause of the riot, which reportedly involved about 2,000 workers, remains unclear, with the company claiming that it began as a personal dispute between workers while other sources have indicated that it stemmed from security guards beating workers for unspecified reasons.

It was not clear how long the shutdown would last at the plant, which employs about 79,000 people in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan, while police and company officials investigate the cause of the disturbance. [...]

"The plant is closed today for investigation," Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo told Reuters. An employee contacted by telephone said the closure could last two or three days.

M.I.C. gadget shares a number of photos and videos from the scene, showing overturned vehicles, broken windows, and small fires.

The report also claims that an iPhone 5 production line was damaged in the riots, but that information does not appear to have been confirmed. As detailed in an undercover report from earlier this month, Foxconn's Taiyuan facility is involved in the production of the iPhone 5 black plate, and a multi-day shutdown at the plant could potentially have an impact on overall device production depending on existing supplies of the part in the assembly chain.

Update 11:12 AM: CNET reports that Foxconn has issued a statement saying that production at the closed facility will resume tomorrow and confirming that there were no deaths from the rioting. Reports have, however, indicated that at least 40 people were injured.

Earlier today, Apple officially announced sales of over five million iPhone 5 units during its launch weekend, easily topping the iPhone 4S debut from last year but falling short of many analysts' expectations.

ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall theorizes that the apparent shortfall compared to expectations may stem from Apple's rapid sellout of its own launch day pre-orders, which occurred in just about an hour. Apple announced two million pre-orders for the iPhone 5 in the first 24 hours of availability, a figure that was used by analysts to predict blockbuster opening weekend sales of 6-10 million units.

Marshall notes that many of those first-day pre-orders, as well as ones made after that date, have yet to be delivered, and thus Apple can not yet count them as sold. A brief "clarification" from Marshall reads:

[R]ecall the 5mil+ iPhone 5 reported sales only takes into consideration: 1) what was sold into partners (e.g., retail outlets, carriers, etc.), 2) sold in AAPL retail stores, and 3) direct to customers only if they signed for the device. Importantly, this doesn't take into consideration units in delivery direct to customers (i.e., AAPL must have signature of acceptance by customer before it is counted as a sale) and we estimate units in transit could be in the millions currently.

Some of those "late" iPhone 5 pre-orders through Apple that had been quoted delivery in early October have already begun shipping with estimated delivery dates of September 27. Those units will not, however, be counted as sales by Apple until they are delivered.

Update 7:13 AM: Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who was responsible for the widely cited 6-10 million unit estimate, has released his own note expressing similar sentiments. He believes that up to a million iPhone 5 pre-orders remain in transit and notes that in-store supply was tighter for the iPhone 5 than for the iPhone 4S, holding back iPhone 5 sales numbers.

We believe there are two factors that negatively impacted the number. First, our sales expectation assumed that Apple would include all phones pre-ordered online. We believe that this may have been up to 1 million additional units as units pre-ordered after the middle of the first day were projected to be available in October. Second, we noted 1.25 days of Apple Retail inventory compared to 2.5 days during the 4S launch. Our 8 million estimate assumed full weekend availability and the counting of all online pre-orders. We believe that if supply were not a constraint and Apple included all pre-orders, the launch weekend number would have been closer to 7-8 million, assuming ~1 million October pre-order sales and an additional 1-2 million units at retail.

Apple today began sending out notices to former MobileMe customers reminding them that their free 25 GB iCloud accounts will be reduced to 5 GB as of September 30. iCloud offers 5 GB of storage for free, but MobileMe customers received an additional 20 GB for free during the first year of iCloud's existence. The offer was initially good through through June 30, 2012, but Apple later extended the bonus through the end of September.

Your iCloud storage will be reduced to 5 GB on 09/30/2012.
However, you are currently using more than 5 GB.

Unless you take action before your downgrade takes effect, backups to iCloud will stop, and apps will no longer be able to save documents to iCloud. You can either free up storage or cancel your downgrade to keep your current storage plan for another year.

With the launch of the iPhone 5 this past weekend, upgraders who have elected to back up their devices to iCloud may find themselves suddenly over the 5 GB limit for free iCloud accounts if their previous iPhone is also being backed up to iCloud. Camera Roll in particular can be a significant contributor to storage needs for iCloud.

Additional information for those seeking to keep their iCloud storage needs below 5 GB can be found in an Apple support document, while those interested in purchasing additional storage space can do so through their iOS device iCloud settings, System Preferences on a Mac, or iCloud Control Panel on a PC. Annual pricing is currently set at $20 for 10 GB, $40 for 20 GB, and $100 for 50 GB. All of the purchased amounts are added to the base 5 GB storage capacity.

Apple today announced opening weekend sales of the iPhone 5 topped five million units, exceeding the four million iPhone 4S units sold during that device's debut weekend last year. The number follows the company's earlier announcement that it had taken over two million pre-orders for the device in the first 24 hours of availability. Apple also announced today that over 100 million devices have been upgraded to iOS 6.

“Demand for iPhone 5 has been incredible and we are working hard to get an iPhone 5 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly and customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough iPhone 5s for everyone.”

Apple's five million iPhone 5 unit sales seem to fall short of many analysts' expectations. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster last week predicted sales of eight million units based Apple's announced pre-order number, calling six million units the worst-case scenario for the company.

The iPhone 5 launched in nine countries last Friday, and will be debuting in 22 more countries this Friday, September 29.

Now that the iPhone 5 has reached the hands of possibly millions of new customers, there are reports that some customers are having a problem with the iPhone 5's Wi-Fi connectivity.

A thread titled Painfully Slow WiFi on new iPhone 5 on our own forums details some of the problems that have been seen by some customers. Byran85 writes:

I just got done setting up my iPhone 5 (as new, not restore). I was trying to download my music from iTunes when it seemed to be taking forever. I cancelled the downloads and then kept testing the WiFi in various other ways. Just loading the app store, my iPhone 4 will load anything faster than my iPhone 5 right now. I've rebooted the router and tried multiple devices and have narrowed the problem down to the WiFi in the iPhone 5. I've also tried using different bands, 2.4 and 5 both produce the same outcome. I launched speedtest.net app about 2 minutes ago and hit begin test. Its still "finding the closest server". I have also tried the reset network settings. Still the same issue.

The rest of the thread shows others with the same type of problem (slow to no connectivity), while others report simply slower-than-normal connectivity. The image on the right was posted by @I_Am_Lucas showing ~2.5Mbps (~300K/s) on his Wi-Fi network. Others have even reported speeds down to 0.5Mbps (~62K/s).

Some users have been able to isolate their problem to when connecting to WPA2 encrypted Wi-Fi routers, and found that moving to (the much less secure) WEP encryption or being unprotected can resolve the issue. Since Apple Retail Stores have unprotected Wi-Fi, the issue may not show up at all in-store. Some have reported success with iPhone 5 hardware replacements from Apple, but several users have reported no success after getting a replacement unit. It should be noted that there may be multiple Wi-Fi related issues that could be affecting users. A lengthy thread in Apple's own discussion forum also reflects the same issues amongst many customers.

One Apple forum poster received confirmation from AppleCare that Apple seems to be aware of the issue, but a resolution is not yet available:

Just spoke with iPhone AppleCare and they are definitely aware of the problem and Apple engineers are working on it. I asked if it was hardware or software related and she said the WPA2 issue seems to be software based and the non-connecting issue may be hardware based, but that they are still trying to identify the cause.

According to the AppleCare representative, they are still working on the issue. The issue seems to affect a small minority of iPhone 5 owners.

TechCrunch reports that Apple is aggressively pursuing former and current Google Maps employees as part of its effort to build out its own Mapping solution.

My source — a contractor who worked on Google Maps as part of a massive undertaking to integrate Street View and newly licensed third-party data to improve European coverage, as well as develop the platform’s turn-by-turn navigation — says that when attention turned to indoor mapping, things started to become less interesting and a lot of staff began looking around for other opportunities.

Apple's own Mapping solution launched as part of iOS 6 just last week. The launch was marred by significant criticism of the quality of the data in many parts of the world. Apple has posted a number of job listings for Maps-related jobs over the past few weeks. Given Google's history and resources placed into their own mapping solution, it's no surprise that many qualified candidates may have worked on Google's product as well.

Early rumors had suggested that Google has already submitted their own Maps application to the iOS app store, but that seems to have been debunked by The Loop's Jim Dalrymple. It still seems that Google may be working on their own iOS app this time, but TechCrunch's prediction of a "before Christmas" target may be a more realistic timeframe.

Apple seems to be catching up on iPhone 5 pre-orders faster than they had previous estimated. We've received a number of tips that iPhone 5 pre-orders that were originally estimated to be delivered in early October are being shipped now with a delivery date of September 27th.

Apple had originally "sold out" of their initial batch of iPhone 5 devices within the first hour of sales and went on to sell 2 million devices in the first 24 hours. iPhone 5 delivery estimates remain at 3-4 weeks out at Apple's online store.

The iPhone 5 retail launch seems to have been relatively smooth, bringing praise from analysts.

"We are positively surprised regarding the pace of the rollout, since we had expected a bigger impact from component constraints," Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes said.

Apple may announce iPhone 5 sales numbers on Monday. Last year, Apple announced 4 million iPhone 4S sales on the opening weekend.

With the launch of the iPhone 5, Apple has started running a full slate of television ads promoting the product. Typical with Apple advertising, all the spots focus on the features of the iPhone 5 and iOS, rather than price. They are voiced by Jeff Daniels, currently starring as Will McAvoy on HBO's Newsroom.

One is focused on the new EarPod headphones, while another shows off the new Panorama feature in iOS 6, and a third touts the larger screen of the iPhone 5. The fourth ad shows how the iPhone 5 is the perfect size for "your thumb", a subtle jab at the larger screens of some Android phones that can be difficult to use with one hand.

As part of its report on Apple's custom ARM chip design for the A6 found in the iPhone 5, AnandTech speculated that the improved graphics performance in the iPhone 5 was achieved through the use of a triple-core PowerVR SGX 543MP3 graphics processing unit (GPU) rather than doubling the clock speed of the dual-core SGX 543MP2 found in the A5 or using the quad-core SGX 543MP4 found in the A5X for the third-generation iPad.

The [SGX 543MP3] is sort of the best of both worlds. You don't take a huge die area penalty and at the same time don't run at a significantly higher frequency, and you can get to that same 2x value.

The [SGX 543MP3] option is the most elegant and likely what Apple chose here.

AnandTech has now followed up with a new report based on fresh images from UBM TechInsights showing the layout of the A6 with three graphics cores as had been predicted.

The image above shows two 32-bit LPDDR2 memory channels and three GPU cores. We're likely looking at a PowerVR SGX 543MP3 running at 266MHz.

UBM estimates the die size at 95.04mm2 and the manufacturer as Samsung.

More information and analysis on the A6 will undoubtedly be forthcoming as UBM TechInsights continues its work, but the first glimpse inside Apple's custom chip design for the iPhone 5 demonstrates how the company has been able to balance processing power needs with die size constraints to achieve significant performance gains for the iPhone 5 compared to its predecessors.

iDownloadBlog has confirmed that the Verizon iPhone 5 being sold on contract does arrive unlocked for use on GSM networks, allowing users with a nano-SIM or a trimmed micro-SIM from a GSM carrier such as AT&T to use the device on their networks.

I can confirm that the Verizon iPhone 5 is indeed GSM unlocked. Even though I bought an iPhone 5 from Verizon under contract, I was able to cut down my AT&T Micro SIM, and use it in my Verizon iPhone 5 to pick up an AT&T signal. By doing so, I was able to hop onto AT&T’s HPSA+ network, or “4G” as they so ridiculously name it.

As the report notes, users attempting to use a Verizon iPhone 5 on AT&T in the United States will not have access to AT&T's LTE network, due to hardware differences that leave the Verizon iPhone 5 (which is essentially a single CDMA/GSM world-mode phone for 3G purposes) incompatible with LTE frequency bands 4 and 17 used by AT&T and Canadian carriers.

For other international GSM carriers, Verizon iPhone 5 owners should simply be able to obtain a nano-SIM card from the international carrier and use it in their phone.

Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White has released a new report analyzing some launch-day iPhone 5 data based on a limited survey of 100 purchasers at Apple retail stores in New York City. According to White's data, half of surveyed iPhone 5 were upgrading from the iPhone 4S, which itself was released only 11 months ago.

Given that the iPhone 4S was launched just one year ago and many consumers are locked into a two-year service agreement with their carrier, we thought the vast majority of the upgrades would come from iPhone 4, previous iPhone generations or non-iPhone users. However, our survey indicates the opposite. In fact, our survey found that 50% of the iPhone 5 buyers upgraded from the iPhone 4S, 11% from the iPhone 4, 3% for 3GS and 36% from non-iPhone users.

Among non-iPhone users moving to the iPhone 5, White found that Nokia and HTC were the most popular phone brands being abandoned for the iPhone 5. White also surveyed customers on their iPhone 5 color preferences, finding that 56% of surveyed buyers were opting for the "Black and Slate" models over "White and Silver" models.

In a separate report, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster discusses his team's visits to Apple's Fifth Avenue and Upper West Side retail stores in New York City and the Uptown store in Minneapolis, where they found that lines were on average 83% longer for the iPhone 5 than they were for the iPhone 4S. Munster also had representatives counting customers at the Chestnut Hill and Bolyston Street stores in the Boston area, but with no prior-year data available for those locations, they primarily serve as a baseline for future analysis.

We believe that based on our count of 775 customers in line for the iPhone 5 at the flagship 5th Avenue store, demand for the iPhone 5 is higher than any previous launch. We believe the line for the iPhone 5 was 70% greater than the line for the iPhone 4S despite Apple taking 2x as many online pre-orders. The trend of Apple product lines at the flagship store had been decreasing, we believe, due to the company taking a greater number of online pre-orders. For the three total stores we observed with Y/Y comps, the average line was 83% longer. Given the strength of the line for the iPhone 5, we are incrementally more confident in Apple's ability to sell 8 million phones in the launch weekend.

Many third-party retailers are experiencing very low stock of the iPhone 5, resulting in delays in availability even for customers who pre-ordered the device. Availability at Apple's own retail stores appears to be remaining fairly high, although some locations are very low on or completely out of select models. Carrier availability has also generally been fairly good in stores, although Sprint is now running out of stock at its East Coast stores.

Update 11:45 AM: Munster has now released his own results on iPhone 5 customer profiles, painting a very different picture than that seen by White. Munster's survey of 517 iPhone 5 buyers found just 26% of them upgrading from the iPhone 4S, compared to 50% in White's survey. Munster's survey found that 45% of customers were upgrading from the iPhone 4, while White pegged that number at just 11%. Finally, while White's data showed 36% of customers were moving from a non-iPhone, Munster's data put the number closer to 17%, with the vast discrepancies across the board illustrating the unreliability of such surveys.

Sprint-branded retail stores on the East Coast are nearly sold out of iPhone 5 inventory, according to a Sprint statement provided to AllThingsD. iPhone sales have been robust at most locations this morning, with some customers who placed pre-orders at Best Buy being told they may not get phones for weeks.

"At this time, the majority of East Coast Sprint-branded retail stores are seriously constrained or sold out of iPhone 5 inventory provided to us by Apple," the carrier said. "Our stores will be resupplied as soon as additional devices are received from Apple."

The above image shows an internal Sprint retail order page, with the iPhone 5 out-of-stock in all models at "eligible warehouses" for fulfillment to this particular Sprint location.

While Apple and its carrier partners are the most popular sources for iPhone purchases, the new iPhone 5 was also made available through a handful of other retailers in the United States including Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Sam's Club, and RadioShack. Model availability is typically limited at these outlets, but some customers find the more convenient locations and smaller crowds more appealing for their purchases.

It appears, however, that some of these third-party retailers are finding themselves unable to meet their iPhone 5 pre-order plans due to a lack of supply from Apple. One MacRumors reader received an email from Best Buy notifying him that his pre-ordered iPhone 5 will not be available today and may in fact take up to 28 days before it comes into stock.

I know that you're excited to get your new iPhone 5 and you can be sure we are as excited to sell it to you. Unfortunately, as of the night before the official launch, Best Buy® has not received enough of the specific model phone you ordered, and we will not have it available on launch day. You can be certain that we are working very hard to get you, as quickly as possible, the exact iPhone 5 model you pre-ordered. It could take as long as 28 days to find the iPhone you want. However, there is no doubt that the fact you pre-ordered a phone from Best Buy means you will be able to buy it before any consumer trying to find one on their own.

Trust us, we will be able to get you the phone you want – maybe not as fast as you might want, but likely as fast as anyone else at this point.

I really appreciate your patience and willingness to shop Best Buy. We look forward to getting you the phone you ordered with us.

The reader reports that he was first one to pre-order a 64 GB black iPhone 5 at his Best Buy location, and that he and all of his friends received this same delay notice.

Sam's Club is experiencing similar shortages, sending out notices to pre-order customers indicating that deliveries are not expected for another 7-10 business days.

Thank you for your recent iPhone 5 reservation. You may have seen some news reports today regarding shipment delays from Apple for the iPhone 5 launch. Unfortunately, this includes some of the anticipated shipment to our Clubs, resulting in reduced initial quantities of iPhones available. Reserved iPhones are anticipated to arrive approximately 7 to 10 business days from the original September 21 release date.

A Club associate will be contacting you to reschedule your pickup date and time when we receive your phone at the Club. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Finally, we've been hearing from a number of readers and forum members that Walmart stores have not received their iPhone 5 stocks. Some store employees have recommended checking back later today, while others have simply said that they have no idea when shipments will be arriving from Apple.

With the launch of the iPhone 5, several companies are performing tests and benchmarks on the new device. One common effort is to put any new iPhone in a series of drop tests to see how well it survives common falls.

Android Authority (via iPhoneinCanada) posts a drop test comparison video between the Samsung Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5 and actually finds in favor of the iPhone 5.

Well, as much as we hate to admit it, the iPhone 5 did amazingly well in our drop test, while the Samsung Galaxy S3 came out in pretty bad shape. It’s the cold hard truth that we can’t hide and we can’t ignore.
....
The hard aluminum shell of the iPhone 5 withstood the impact pretty well, and the glass protecting the display remained intact. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S3 predictably lost its back cover and suffered damage to the casing and the front glass. Sad, sad, sad.

Meanwhile, iFixYouri (via 9to5Mac) also posted a video showing their version of the drop test which also tested dropping the iPhone 5 from various heights.

The iPhone 5 survived all the falls until they finally threw the device screen down. They describe the device as the "most durable iPhone" they've seen.

With Apple retail stores, carriers, and other retailers taking delivery of their launch-day iPhone 5 stocks overnight last night, hundreds of the units have been stolen in several incidents on opposite sides of the globe. While security is tight at Apple's own retail stores where staff were on hand all night to set up window displays and demo units, carriers whose retail stores were left unattended during the night have been the primary target for thieves.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a total of 191 units were stolen from three separate shops run by carrier partners KDDI and Softbank in the Osaka area in Japan. Police have not confirmed that the burglaries are connected and are still investigating security footage and other evidence. The majority of the stolen units came from a Softbank outlet that was cleaned out of its entire stock of iPhone 5 units.

[A] Softbank Corp store in the western district of Osaka city was wiped clean of its iPhone 5 stock. All 116 devices were stolen, including one store display. The police said they were taken from the locked backroom within a four minute span from 4:24 a.m. as shown on security camera footage. The video recording also showed there were three culprits, all likely to be male. The police said it is uncertain whether the robbery is related to the incident in Ibaraki, located about 20 minutes away by car.

In the United Kingdom, The Independent reports that over 250 iPhone 5 units were stolen from an O2 shop in London in what appears to have been an inside job.

Officers want to speak to Usman Sethi, 23, of Audley Gardens, Ilford, east London, who works as an assistant at the store.

The phones were taken at 1.30am, with a quantity of cash which was also stolen from the shop's safe. [...]

Police also want to speak to Mr Sethi, a Pakistani national, in connection with the theft of jewellery belonging to a family member from his home address in Audley Gardens.

At a median selling price of £599, the 252 stolen iPhones would be valued at approximately £150,000 or nearly $250,000.