Apple By Matthew Humphries Jun. 25, 2014 10:01 am
Launching a new iPhone every year is by no means an easy task, especially if it incorporates a major design change. The launch of the iPhone 6 this year is expected to bring with it one of the biggest changes yet to the smartphone in the form of a much larger display, but a casing issue is threatening to make it almost impossible to find come launch day.
Reports coming out of China claim that Apple’s iPhone 6 chassis manufacturing partner Catcher Technology has messed up. The anodizing process Catcher chose to use in the manufacturing of the chassis has meant there are clear defects where the plastic and metal parts connect together. So that’s not only a set back for full production, but a manufacturing process rethink needing to happen. The knock-on effect? Catcher is up to 3 months behind schedule.
There’s no way Apple would delay the iPhone 6 launch that long, so instead it is thought Apple will rely more heavily on its other partners for production (Foxconn and Jabil). That means there will likely be significantly less stock of the iPhone 6 available come launch day unless Catcher somehow manages to solve its anodizing issue extremely quickly.
If you are intending on purchasing an iPhone 6 on whatever launch day Apple sets, then securing one early is advised. The big selling point for a lot of people will be the expected increase in the size of the handset to incorporate a 4.7-inch display. iPhones are always popular, but that feature alone is surely going to be a big winner with consumers followed by a scramble to get one.
This isn’t the first time anodizing has thrown up an issue during iPhone production. At least this time the problem occurred before launch. You may remember when the iPhone 5 was released and lots of people were opening them to find scratches and chips on their brand new handset. According to Phil Schiller, that’s normal.
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Reports coming out of China claim that Apple’s iPhone 6 chassis manufacturing partner Catcher Technology has messed up. The anodizing process Catcher chose to use in the manufacturing of the chassis has meant there are clear defects where the plastic and metal parts connect together. So that’s not only a set back for full production, but a manufacturing process rethink needing to happen. The knock-on effect? Catcher is up to 3 months behind schedule.
There’s no way Apple would delay the iPhone 6 launch that long, so instead it is thought Apple will rely more heavily on its other partners for production (Foxconn and Jabil). That means there will likely be significantly less stock of the iPhone 6 available come launch day unless Catcher somehow manages to solve its anodizing issue extremely quickly.
If you are intending on purchasing an iPhone 6 on whatever launch day Apple sets, then securing one early is advised. The big selling point for a lot of people will be the expected increase in the size of the handset to incorporate a 4.7-inch display. iPhones are always popular, but that feature alone is surely going to be a big winner with consumers followed by a scramble to get one.
This isn’t the first time anodizing has thrown up an issue during iPhone production. At least this time the problem occurred before launch. You may remember when the iPhone 5 was released and lots of people were opening them to find scratches and chips on their brand new handset. According to Phil Schiller, that’s normal.
More...
