Some workshops at Foxconn's Shenzhen plant will soon enter the first stage of making samples for the iPhone 13, thepaper.cn said on January 12, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The source said that some workshops in the Guanlan plant in Shenzhen will stop producing the iPhone 12, "the Zhengzhou factory will continue to produce the iPhone 12, and the Shenzhen factory will continue to produce the Pro series. Guanlan factory will be responsible for research and development as well as the production of a small number of products, generally after the development will be promoted to other factories production."
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Making samples is generally divided into design modules, corrections, finalization, and mass production, and from prototype to mass production is generally nine months. Apple usually releases a new generation of iPhones in September each year. in 2020, it is rare for the Apple iPhone 12 series to span three months from release to sale due to the supply chain facing difficulties caused by Covid-19.
Production of the iPhone series is currently primarily at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant, which is part of Foxconn's Digital Products Business Group (IDPBG).
Foxconn has nearly one million employees in China, and the company encourages employees to stay and work at its plants during the Chinese New Year holiday, with the Zhengzhou and Shenzhen plants offering thousands of dollars in incentives to employees who stay for the Chinese New Year.
A recent report said that although the iPhone 12 series was launched a bit later than in previous years, market demand was strong after its launch.
The report said Apple has placed iPhone production orders with suppliers for the first half of this year, calling for 95 million to 96 million units, primarily iPhone 12, a 30 percent year-over-year boost.
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