14 DAY TRIAL // A quick glance at the iPhone section on Apple’s online store reveals that the company has been able to improve shipping times dramatically, from weeks to just days for delivery.
An iPhone 5s order can be fulfilled in three to five days now, whereas the same order placed earlier this month would be stamped with a two-week shipping time.
The reason for this good piece of news stems from Taiwan, where Apple partner and device assembler Foxconn Electronics, has been firing on all cylinders to churn out as many as half a million units daily.
iPhone 5s assembly is at the top of its priority list, while 5c production has slowed and even halted at some of its production facilities.
Executives working for the Asian company are telling the Wall Street Journal that “[Foxconn] has operated 100 production lines around the clock in Zhengzhou, north central China, at full capacity.”
At its Zhengzhou site alone, Foxconn has 300,000 workers all dedicated to just making the iPhone 5s and various components.
These executives also said Foxconn uses 600 workers for each iPhone 5s production line, whereas for the 5c and the older iPhone 5, it used just 500. The executives confirmed to the paper that Apple’s iPhone 5s is the toughest to build so far.
But, at the same time, Foxconn is building more phones than ever, “We have been churning out about 500,000 iPhone 5Ss everyday, the highest daily output ever,” said one of the executives.
This person also said it took longer to build a 5s: “For the iPhone 5C or the iPhone 5, we only have 500 workers per production line as the assembly procedure is less complicated,” he said.
“Although the market had concerns over demand for the new iPhone before its launch, our Zhengzhou site’s production capacity for iPhones has continued to grow over the past two years,” the executive, who wished to remain anonymous, added.