Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile

Foxconn struggling with iPhone 6 demand, production lines operating 24/7

Trevor Mogg
By

foxconn struggling with iphone 6 demand colors
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Despite Foxconn employing more than 200,000 workers at a single site that’s dedicated to assembling Apple’s new iPhones and some of its key components, it appears the tech manufacturer is struggling to cope with demand.

According to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, manufacturing two different-sized iPhones is turning out to be a particularly complicated process for Foxconn. Even though it has around 100 production lines operating 24 hours a day in Zhengzhou in north-central China, the Taiwan-based manufacturer is reportedly having trouble keeping up with demand.

Recommended Videos

Apple said it took 4 million pre-orders for the new iPhone last Friday, a company record for first-day sales. It’s not known how many more have been ordered in the five days since then, but it’s safe to say Foxconn’s workers won’t be resting up anytime soon.

Related

On Apple’s US website, shipping for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus has slipped to 3-4 weeks, while customers who ordered the 4.7-inch alternative will have to wait at least 7-10 business days.

The longer wait for the 6 Plus doesn’t necessarily indicate that this model is the more popular of the two – plenty of reports prior to its launch suggested that certain technical issues meant it would be harder to produce, leading to supply constraints in the weeks and possibly months following its launch. In addition, the Journal’s source says a shortage of 5.5-inch displays is also impacting on production.

The source went on to explain that Foxconn is “churning out 140,000 iPhone 6 Plus and 400,000 iPhone 6 every day, the highest daily output ever,” adding that even this astonishing level of production “is still not enough to meet the pre-orders.”

The manufacturer is reportedly the sole maker of the iPhone 6 Plus, and is also assembling the majority of the 4.7-inch units. With the iPhone 5S and 5C models, which launched last year, production was split more equally between Foxconn and another company, Pegatron, reducing pressure on both suppliers.

This isn’t the first time Foxconn has faced issues with the iPhone. Two years ago, with the launch of the iPhone 5, CEO Terry Gou admitted his company was “falling short of meeting the huge demand.” Foxconn officials said at the time that the iPhone 5, which with its larger screen was also a new design, was “the most difficult device Foxconn has ever assembled.” Perhaps they’re currently looking at the iPhone 6 and thinking the same thing.

The manufacturer eventually got on top of the iPhone 5 challenges, and no doubt, in the coming months, it’ll deal with these current issues, too. Consumers hoping to get their hands on an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus soon, however, look as if they’ll need to exercise a little patience for now.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
3 reasons why I’ll actually use Anker’s new iPhone power bank
A person holding the Anker MagGo Power Bank.

Power banks are a necessary evil, and even if you don’t consider yourself a “power user” who's likely to drain a phone’s battery in less than a day, there will be times when one comes in handy. And when I am forced to carry one, I want it to be as helpful and versatile as possible.

I’ve been trying Anker’s MagGo Power Bank 10K -- meaning it has a 10,000mAh cell inside it -- and there are three reasons why I'm OK with it taking up valuable space in my bag.
It has a screen on it

Read more
Here’s how Apple could change your iPhone forever
An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying on its back, showing its home screen.

Over the past few months, Apple has released a steady stream of research papers detailing its work with generative AI. So far, Apple has been tight-lipped about what exactly is cooking in its research labs, while rumors circulate that Apple is in talks with Google to license its Gemini AI for iPhones.

But there have been a couple of teasers of what we can expect. In February, an Apple research paper detailed an open-source model called MLLM-Guided Image Editing (MGIE) that is capable of media editing using natural language instructions from users. Now, another research paper on Ferret UI has sent the AI community into a frenzy.

Read more
There’s a big problem with the iPhone’s Photos app
The Apple iPhone 15 Plus's gallery app.

While my primary device these days continues to be my iPhone 15 Pro, I’ve dabbled with plenty of Android phones since I’ve been here at Digital Trends. One of my favorite brands of phone has been the Google Pixel because of its strong suite of photo-editing tools and good camera hardware.

Google first added the Magic Eraser capability with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, which is a tool I love using. Then, with the Pixel 8 series, Google added the Magic Editor, which uses generative AI to make edits that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. There are also tools like Photo Unblur, which is great for old photographs and enhancing images that were captured with low-quality sensors.

Read more