iPhone 5 difficult to assemble, shortages expected!
WSJ reports today that the long awaited iPhone 5 will be rare at launch following difficulties at the Foxconn manufacturing plants with assembling the lastest generation of premium Apple products. One of WSJ’s inside sources cautioned that shipments of the new iPhone could be delayed if Hon Hai can’t improve its yield rate as the new iPhone is “complicated and difficult to assemble.”
Last month, Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou said at the company’s annual general meeting that the yield rate of Apple’s touch-screen devices hasn’t been satisfactory, which weighed on the company’s profitability.
“The touch-screen devices are so thin. It’s really difficult to install so many components into the iPhones and iPads,” Mr. Gou said. “We hope to raise the yield rate and volume in the second half which will help improve our gross margin.”
