14 DAY TRIAL // While Pegatron is busy assembling plastic iPhones and answering allegations that it is mistreating its workers (nothing new under the sun, as they say), Foxconn is on a new hiring spree to build up workforce to assemble the more expensive iPhone set for unveiling this year.
The more expensive version is, of course, the iPhone 5S, a revision to the flagship Apple smartphone which reportedly boasts a fingerprint sensor under its Home button, a design that is identical to the iPhone 5, and other enhancements yet to be confirmed by Apple.
The handset is said to be the first in the iPhone series to ship in multiple color variations, but this remains up for debate until Apple makes the official unveiling.
As Pegatron is staffing up to manufacture Apple’s “budget” plastic iPhone (allegedly dubbed iPhone 5C), Foxconn (owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry) is said to be hiring as many as 90,000 workers at its own plant in Shenzhen to fill “massive orders from Apple.”
According to focustaiwan.tw, “The sources said Hon Hai, the world's largest contract electronics maker, needs additional staff to deal with large orders from Apple for a new version of the iPhone.”
Mind you, these orders include both the iPhone 5S and the plastic iPhone, but Foxconn is believed to have taken the bulk of orders for the more expensive version of the handset.
The source quoted by the Taiwanese publication added that “Hon Hai has completed testing for the assembly of the new iPhone and is well prepared to begin production.”
Foxconn has production plants for Apple devices in numerous places around China, including cities such as Zhengzhou (in the Henan Province), Taiyuan (in the Shanxi Province), and Chengdu (in the Sichuan Province), according to the report.
Earlier this year, Foxconn made a similar hiring effort at its Zhengzhou plant, which also makes iPhones and iPads.