Apple has made plenty of headlines over its reported supply chain woes this year and now The Register has translated a new report from China Business claiming that Apple recently returned at least 5 million iPhones to Foxconn this year due to some kind of unnamed defect. The Register notes that “with a cost to manufacture of $US200 apiece, Foxconn is apparently preparing to take a hit of up to $1.6bn to cover the cost of making replacement handsets,” which would certainly be a major blow to the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer. The report of the returned iPhones comes after Foxconn earlier this month posted a 19% drop in year-over-year revenue that was attributable in large part to “disappointing” recent iPhone sales.
The cost of iPhone quality control: $1.2B in faulty phones returned by Apple in 2013 alone
Published Apr 22nd, 2013 8:45AM EDT
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Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.
