Tech

Apple partner Foxconn struggling with iPhone demand

Published Wednesday, Nov 7 2012, 14:41 GMT | By Mark Langshaw | 6 comments

Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn has admitted that it is struggling to meet its iPhone production targets.

The Chinese company's chief Terry Gou told reporters that they are "falling short" of the targets Apple is demanding for its latest handset.

A customer tests the new iPhone 5 at the Apple store in Hong Kong

iPhone 5 launch event: Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, talks about the features of the new camera and iSight during an introduction of the new iPhone 5 at an Apple event in San Francisco, Wednesday Sept. 12, 2012.

"It's not easy to make the iPhones," Reuters quotes Gou as saying. "We are falling short of meeting the huge demand."

Foxconn is currently producing three iPhone models for Apple, the iPhone 5, 4S and 4. It is thought that the latest iteration is the one behind the delays.

The iPhone 5 is thinner and taller than the previous models and comes with a host of hardware improvements, making it a challenging device for Foxconn's workers to build.

There were previous reports of unrest on the iPhone 5 production line, with workers allegedly growing frustrated about how difficult it is to prevent the handset's aluminium casing from becoming scratched.

Due to the delays, customers who order an iPhone 5 face a three-to-four-week wait for the device to be shipped to certain territories.

Watch Digital Spy's video review of the iPhone 5 below: