Tech titan Apple Inc has reportedly returned eight million iPhone units to design manufacturer Foxconn due to issues in its manufacturing standards.
A source, on the condition of anonymity, revealed to China Business Journal that on 15 March Apple had botched five million iPhone units and the total number of returned iPhones maybe as many as eight million. The return of iPhones in bulk is blamed on manufacturing issues and appearance.
"It is not the first time that such quality control problems occur," said the source. "The fast growth and expansion of the production brings huge challenges to the newly promoted and management staff."
Considering the number of returned units,Foxconn maybe end up spending anything between 1 to 1.6 billion Chinese yuan ($161.8 to $259 million) to replace the phones. The report did not say which iPhone model had failed to meet the Apple's standards.
"If it's the current iPhone 5, or the still-on-sale 4S, the impact of eight million phones failing to appear would punch a two-or-three-week hole in Apple's supply chain, an assertion we make on the basis that the company says it sold 47.8m handsets in its last quarter," The Register noted.
Foxconn spokesman Simon Hsing was said to have claimed that the figures mentioned in the report is wrong adding that an investigation into the issues of management and product yield will be considered.
