Foxconn reduces overtime as iPhone holiday sales fall 5% to 10% under expectations?

A report published on Tuesday says that Foxconn has reduced the amount of overtime it is assigning to its assembly line workers. The move by the contract manufacturer was allegedly made after Christmas holiday demand for the Apple iPhone fell under expectations by 5% to 10%. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Aaron Rakers notes that exports from iPhone manufacturing plants in China slid in November, after rising in September and October.

Rakers predicts that Apple will sell 74.7 million iPhone units in the current quarter, which includes the important holiday shopping season. That would be a small increase over the record 74.5 million that Apple sold in the same quarter last year. The company earned an incredible $18 billion during the three month period last year, the most any company has ever raked in over a single quarter.

Part of the reason for the big fiscal first quarter last year was the increase in the size of the Apple iPhone 6 screen to 4.7-inches from the 4-inches on the Apple iPhone 5s and Apple iPhone 5c. Apple added a 5.5-inch Apple iPhone 6 Plus. While the screen sizes of the Apple iPhone 6s and Apple iPhone 6s Plus remain the same, Apple added 3D Touch. This feature allows the phone to differentiate between a light, regular, and heavy tap on the screen. Apple also upgraded the rear camera on its new models to 12MP, and to 5MP on the front-facing camera.



source: NYPost