Even though Foxconn Terry Gou was quoted this week as saying his company was struggling to produce the iPhone 5, there are reportedly signs that manufacturing capacity for the iPhone 5 is “much improved.”
Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee revealed in a note to investors on Thursday that his checks within Apple’s supply chain have found that Apple has significantly improved its iPhone 5 production capacity since the device first launched in late September.
With supply constraints expected to ease, Wu says he beleives that Apple will sell 46.5 million total iPhone units in the firm’s December quarter. That would be a huge quarter-over-quarter increase from the 26.9 million iPhone units Apple shipped in the previous quarter.
Wu’s analysis was issued in response to comments made earlier this week by Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou, who said his company has struggled to produce the iPhone 5 for Apple, admitting that the company has been “falling short of meeting the huge demand.”
Wu says the supply chain bottleneck for the iPhone 5 has moved from components to the assembly process.
Reports have surfaced that the in-cell touch panel and the aluminum chassis have caused quality control issues for both Apple and Foxconn. An unnamed source from Foxconn said in October that the iPhone 5 is “the most difficult device” the company has ever assembled.
A poll of U.S. carriers last week showed that the supply of the iPhone 5 is still constrained at Verizon and AT&T, however the supply at Sprint was said to be increasing.
