Foxconn Chairman Admits to 'Falling Short' of iPhone 5 Demand

[MacRumors]

Reuters reports that Foxconn chairman Terry Gou has acknowledged that his company is struggling to keep up with demand for the iPhone 5, echoing an earlier report addressing the difficulty of assembling the phone to meet strict quality control standards.

"It's not easy to make the iPhones. We are falling short of meeting the huge demand," Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou told reporters after a business forum.

However, he declined to comment on brokerage reports saying that the group's other unit, Foxconn International Holdings (FIH), had taken on some production.

The Wall Street Journal has another report on Gou's comments, quoting him as saying that Foxconn is shipping "far fewer" iPhones than Apple has requested.

"Market demand is very strong, but we just can't really fulfill Apple's requests," Taipei-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Chairman Terry Gou told reporters on the sidelines of a local economic forum.

Mr. Gou declined to say which of the phone's design features has caused production issues and how long it will take for those issues to be solved.

Availability of the iPhone 5 remains tight some six weeks after the first round of launches, with Apple's online stores generally quoting 3-4 week shipping estimates and lines forming at some Apple retail stores on a daily basis as customers seek out available stock.

Article Link: Foxconn Chairman Admits to 'Falling Short' of iPhone 5 Demand

[saud0488]

I'm sure it wasn't a coincidence or anything that this happens with every iphone launch

[unlimitedx]

Selling like hotcakes

[gmanist1000]

Does the new facility in Brazil produce iPhones as well?

[ECUpirate44]

Hopefully they pan this out for the holiday buying season. I need 3 on 12/5

[jdegid]

How about the iMacs????? who's making those and when can I order??


Take my money now please

[William Gates]

I walked into ATT Friday morning and bought a Black 64 GB no problem, except for all the problems the ATT sales staff caused me.

[Kissaragi]

Will this finally shut up the stupid conspiracy theorists that claim apple hold back supply deliberately?..... Probably not

*edit*... it didn't...

[FieldingMellish]

The way Jony Ives designs phones so thinner and lighter, Apple will soon have to offer a "build it yourself" option. You pay $80.00 less and receive a box of parts and a link to online instructions.

[Junkyman]

The entire situation is ridiculous. It's almost impossible to get an iPhone currently. And we are talking about 1,5 months after the launch.

[Glassed Silver]

Originally Posted by William Gates

I walked into ATT Friday morning and bought a Black 64 GB no problem, except for all the problems the ATT sales staff caused me.

64GB mostly has no availability issues.
We're mostly talking about the 16GB version here, 32GB to some extend.

Glassed Silver:mac

[utwarreng]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

The way Jony Ives designs phones so thinner and lighter, Apple will soon have to offer a "build it yourself" option. You pay $80.00 less and receive a box of parts and a link to online instructions.

It'll be called the iKEAPhone.

[haruhiko]

And yet you can always walk in and buy Samsung's any flagship phones... Actually the salespeople really want you to get one! Either Samsung has some crazy super factory or their products are selling much slower.

[JayLenochiniMac]

It's the other way around. Apple is requesting "far more" iPhones that Foxconn is capable of shipping. This is why the factory workers and/or their supervisors allowed obviously damaged iPhones full of nicks and scuffs to slip past QC in order to meet the higher demand.

[Karma*Police]

I just bought one online as a gift, and although the website states a 3-4 week wait, my delivery estimate shows 4-5 weeks. If anyone's buying an iphone5 as a Christmas gift, I'd recommend ordering it now.

[Ivan P]

Originally Posted by utwarreng

It'll be called the iKEAPhone.

And in lieu of licensing the IKEA name, Apple will just use their billions of dollars in cash and purchase the whole company outright.

[mp0890]

Originally Posted by FieldingMellish

The way Jony Ives designs phones so thinner and lighter, Apple will soon have to offer a "build it yourself" option. You pay $80.00 less and receive a box of parts and a link to online instructions.

Joke or not, I don't think I would be against this.

[trainwrecka]

Originally Posted by Karma*Police

I just bought one online as a gift, and although the website states a 3-4 week wait, my delivery estimate shows 4-5 weeks. If anyone's buying an iphone5 as a Christmas gift, I'd recommend ordering it now.

Those 3-4 weeks are no joke either. My brother's came in at the tail end of his 4 week mark, and I'm at the end of week 3 with no new information.

[Patriks7]

Originally Posted by Junkyman

The entire situation is ridiculous. It's almost impossible to get an iPhone currently. And we are talking about 1,5 months after the launch.

This. In most European countries I checked, there's a waiting time of 4-6 weeks. This long after launch! I remember this long after the 4 launch, you could easily walk into a store and chose the size and color and walk away with it.

[Karma*Police]

Originally Posted by haruhiko

And yet you can always walk in and buy Samsung's any flagship phones... Actually the salespeople really want you to get one! Either Samsung has some crazy super factory or their products are selling much slower.

It's called spiffs... the salesperson can get $$ for selling/activating certain models. If salespeople are promoting Samsung, then it's likely Samsung is employing that push strategy heavily and/or the carriers are employing it to reduce overstock of Samsung devices.

[ALMF]

Apple can not meet demand for iPhones and Minis. Surely someone out there wanted a phone or tablet and bought the competitor's product because there was no ridicuous wait for it. one here one there add up to loss of sales.

I think the problem is that Apple tries to meet timelines while at the same time as trying to keep things secret. secrecy causes production to start much closer to the timeline due date to reduce leaks. that plus possible production issues cause massive product delays.

[Spoony]

Just go onto apple.com right at 10pm and order an iphone 5 with in store pickup.
It'll be waiting for you the next day.

I just did that yesterday. Delivery was 4 to 6 weeks
In store pick up less than 12 hours.

You need to buy the phone between like 10pm and 10:02pm or the in store pick up option disappears b/c everyone already snapped up all the iphones.

It's how apple is controlling the crazy demand and why you can't just walk into a store and buy one.

They have them but you just need to reserve one at 10pm for in store pickup.

[Michaelgtrusa]

The solution is to hire more slaves.

[TrentS]

Foxconn Just needs to purchase one thing: The Easy Button.

"That was easy!"

[saud0488]

Originally Posted by Kissaragi

Will this finally shut up the stupid conspiracy theorists that claim apple hold back supply deliberately?..... Probably not

Why would it? It's not a conspiracy as much as a fact. Of course they hold back supply to create artificial demand. EVERY iPhone has had "supply issues," or so they call it. You'd think that if they really wanted to have enough, they'd make it so that there are enough made in advance.