Earlier this month, WSJ reported that Apple plans to begin producing the next iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5S, this quarter. The report indicated a possible Summer launch for iPhone 5S. WSJ now claims that Foxconn, Apple’s primary manufacturing partner in China, is going to inscrease its staff in order to ramp up production for Apple’s iPhone 5S.
Accroding to WSJ, Foxconn is adding around 10,000 new assembly line workers a week to its iPhone production facility, with unnamed executives at the company confirming that the company is preparing for the next iPhone launch.
The Taiwanese company said Monday it has added about 10,000 assembly-line workers a week in Zhengzhou, its major production facility for iPhones, since the last week of March.
A Foxconn spokesman declined to elaborate regarding production plans, only saying that the company will continue to expand its workforce in Zhengzhou to meet seasonal demand from clients. But Foxconn executives familiar with the situation said the company has stepped up hiring in Zhengzhou because it is preparing for production of the next iPhone.
“We have been very busy recently as we will start mass-producing the new iPhone soon,” said a Zhengzhou-based Foxconn executive who has direct knowledge of production plans.
iPhone 5S is widely speculated to come in same design as that of iPhone 5, but with faster processor, improved camera, NFC and fingerprint scanner. However, Apple is reportedly facing technical challenges for fingerprint sensor and finding it difficult to find the right color coating to prevent interference with the sensor.