FWIW, not to be dismissive of any iPhone 5 QC issues, but Apple's had a fairly consistent track record of major QC issues during the entire date range above.It may be better than the rest, but I am not comparing different companies. I am comparing APPLE in 2001 to APPLE now in 2012.
Here's a snipit from the PowerBooks Wikipedia page:
(This is from 2001-2003)
"The hinges on the Titanium PowerBook display are notorious for breaking under typical use. Usually the hinge (which is shaped like an L) will break just to the left of where it attaches to the lower case on the right hinge, and just to the right on the left hinge (where the right hinge is on the right side of the computer when the optical drive is facing you). When the 667 MHz and 800 MHz "DVI" Powerbooks were introduced, Apple changed the hinge design slightly to strengthen it. At least one manufacturer began producing sturdier replacement hinges to address this problem, though actually performing the repair is difficult as the display bezel is glued together.
In addition some discolouration, bubbling or peeling of paint on the outer bezel occurred, notably around the area where the palm would rest whiles using the trackpad. This appeared on early models but not on later Titanium PowerBooks."
There are so many other examples like this from the last 10+ years that it's really hard to point to their current QC issues and try to make the point that they used to be better, IMO.