When we first started hearing rumours about the forthcoming iPhone 5S it was suggested that Apple would launch the model much earlier than usual during the summer months. Latest reports however are suggesting that a more traditional September launch is more likely and new reports give us a good indication as to what has caused this delay.Image may be NSFW.
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Latest news reports have suggested that up to 5 million iPhone 5S devices have been returned to Chinese manufacturer Foxconn. The reason why these handsets have been returned is because they were either “dysfunctional” or “non compliant”. Prior to the devices being produced it is reported that Apple had agreed a 90 per cent yield rate with Foxconn but the manufacturers have fallen well below this level. It has been suggested that the current yield is only around eighty per cent and this has cost Foxconn a cool $250 million. This news story was broken on China Business and when the story is translated part of it reads “March 15, 2013, Apple returned five million mobile phones, because the appearance of non-compliant or dysfunction problems. “Foxconn insiders who asked not to be named, told the” China Business “reporter, quality is not up to standard on Apple phone even up to a total of 8,000,000″.
This news story has caused a lot of confusion with the dates and model numbers that it quotes. Many experts have suggested that there is an error with the model numbers and that the story actually relates to the iPhone 4S. This however seems strange as Foxconn have been producing this device for nearly two years with no major problems. It remains a distinct possibility that the report is correct and that the iPhone 5S is the device in question. We know that Apple were keen to start the production run on this device earlier than usual to avoid supply problems when the model is released. Recent news reports have also claimed that this production run has faced difficulties that have pushed the proposed release back to September.
It looks increasingly likely that the defective iPhones returned to Foxconn are indeed the iPhone 5S and this illustrates that Apple are already hard at work producing their next generation phone ready for a late summer launch.
