- September 8, 2011 12:19 am
The unannounced, unacknowledged iPhone 5 is already pushing Foxconn’s factories near max capacity. According to a new report by DigiTimes citing Taiwanese supply chains, Foxconn is now pumping out nearly 150,000 iPhone 5s per day in an effort to ship 5-6 million iPhone 5s come late September/early October.
The jury’s still out as to whether or not Apple’s other iPhone 5 manufacturer, Pegatron, has started iPhone 5 production yet. The manufacturer is reportedly responsible for up to 15% of Apple’s iPhone 5 production. With that said, current rumors claim Pegatron might not join the fray until early 2012.
Fret not dear reader as all you need to know is this: the iPhone 5 is currently being built en masse and will be shipping to a retail location/doorstep near you very soon.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is about to get a bit of added Chinese retail presence thanks to the company behind many of their iconic gadgets. New reports claim Foxconn is planning to open up a line of self-branded retail shops within China to market and sell Apple hardware.
Foxconn cites the relatively small profit margin on manufacturing products in general as the reason for their move. Similarly, Foxconn will be able to make money off Apple products two-fold and recoup costs should Apple sign manufacturing deals with competing manufacturing companies. From a purely business perspective it certainly sounds like a good idea. How Apple will respond or if they would even allow such a thing remains to be seen.
Would you shop at a Foxconn retail store? Default answer: If the price is right.
Depending on which analyst you talk to, the recent Foxconn explosion at the Chengdu facility could have a pretty severe impact on iPad 2 supply. For example, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu claims Apple’s other iPad production facilities (such as the Shenzhen facility) will be able to make up for the downtime at the damaged Chendu building. Slightly more disheartening are estimates from IHS iSuppli citing a 500,000 unit supply shortage. However, through the lens of RBC Capital Markets’ Mike Abramsky that levies the worst fate against Apple. Abramsky proposes Apple’s production losses could top 1.8 million and even reach as high as 2.8 million when all is said and done.
For now, all estimates should be taken relatively lightly as the full impact of the Chengdu explosion still aren’t known.
Despite the potentially bleak outcome, Wu goes on to say that Apple will continue their monumental iPad 2 success through the June quarter, ultimately selling 6.8 million iPad 2s.
Long story short: It’s a crap shoot.
Foxconn has been in the news quite a bit this past year, though not in the way that I’m sure the executives would like. First it was for poor working conditions. Then it was for mass suicides occurring on a daily basis attributed to the poor living/working conditions. And now some more less than stellar news for the consumer electronic manufacturering giant. Truth be told, it’s not really another “bad” story per say. Just a handful of pictures from a recent Wired/Gizmodo project showing the rather bleak living arrangements in this factory that honestly looks like it hasn’t seen much TLC in years.
Supposedly, Foxconn recently outsourced their building upkeep and maintenance to a third party to avoid conflicts of interest lawsuits. While we’re on the topic of the building itself, you’ll see from the images inside that the interior decor is completely void of any “homey” feeling. Stark, dirty walls, a lone TV (they have one per floor) in the TV room, and rooms that look more like jail cells spell out a life that lacks any type of creature comforts.
If you’re interested to see what working minimum wage in your typical overcrowded Chinese factory is like, hop on through. It’s actually quite eye opening…
- December 10, 2009 8:04 am
While newspapers and large organizations would like you to believe they still are the best place for breaking, exclusive news, anyone remotely familiar with the way in which the digital world works knows that many of the “breaking” stories start in short 160 character messages and can be found on Twitter. Sourcing Twitter for major news articles by big media outlets is still somewhat a rarity though is increasing in usage. In contrast, the ultra fast and ever changing tech scene whom stays up to the minute in technology embraced Twitter long ago for breaking news. Because of that, mention that Mobile Review editor Eldar Murtazin recently tweeted about Foxconn receiving an order from Apple for the 4th Gen iPhone seems just as good a source as any “big media trusted source”.
I’m certainly eager to see how Apple plans to further evolve the iPhone platform as well as the how they plan to answer criticisms relating to the App Store’s increasingly negative accounts. As for the actual 4th gen iPhone, what it will look like and how Apple plans to reinvigorate the iPhone mania after the 3GS’s rather lukewarm “upgrade” remains to be seen. It’s business as usual however — this summer, same place, same time. See you there.
Ubergizmo
