Some lucky buyers will get their iPhone X on November 3rd when the handset is set to launch in initial markets, but most Apple fans will have to wait weeks or even months to have one shipped to their door.
A new report says that Foxconn has started shipping the iPhone X, but only 46,500 units are included in this first batch that was just shipped out.
It’s Digitimes, quoting Chinese language site Xinhuanet.com, that offers the supposed shipping details, saying this first batch is being shipped out from Zhengzhou and Shanghai to the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates. The report is in line with recent stories that said Apple is still dealing with various yield issues concerning the TrueDepth camera, with the Face ID component proving to be a major bottleneck in the manufacturing process.
Digitimes also quotes the Chinese Commercial Times, which says the iPhone X will be the most difficult smartphone to find this year.
Foxconn has apparently ramped up iPhone X production from 100,000 units a week to 400,000 units a week, but that’s still not enough to meet demand. Given these numbers, it’ll be interesting to see how many units Apple can sell in 2017.
Ming-Chi Kuo said recently that iPhone X shipments are likely to reach 30 million to 35 million units by the end of the year. But can Apple manufacture that many? If this latest report out of China is accurate, things aren’t looking good for the time being.
iPhone X preorders start on October 27th, and the phone will be released the following week on November 3rd.
