Wednesday Apple Rumors: Foxconn Hiring Jumps for iPhone 5S

by Christopher Freeburn | July 31, 2013 10:20 am

[1][2]Here are your Apple rumors[3] and AAPL news items for today:

Signal: A Taiwanese media report indicates that Apple‘s (AAPL[4]) primary iPhone manufacturing partner is hiring a massive number of new workers[5] ahead of the launch if its newest flagship smartphone, AppleInsider notes. According to Focus Taiwan, Foxconn is recruiting 90,000 new employees for its Shenzhen factory. Apple is expected to launch a new version of its iPhone — widely forecast to be the iPhone 5S — in September or October. Apple has long relied upon Foxconn as the primary producer of its iPhones. However, reports surfaced earlier this year that the iPad-maker has tapped rival Pegatron to manufacture a new, low-cost version of the iPhone. Earlier this year, Foxconn froze new hiring, reportedly due to higher-than-expected numbers of workers returning from Chinese holidays. However, Foxconn was reported to have encountered difficulty manufacturing the super-slim iPhone 5 last year, resulting in production delays. Apple was also said to have returned millions of defective iPhone 5’s to Foxconn earlier this year.

Litigation: Apple is facing a potential class action lawsuit[6] filed by two former employees over its store security practices, Reuters notes. In their suit, filed in a San Francisco federal court, the former Apple Store workers claim that the iPhone-maker made store employees submit to routine searches of bags and purses every time they left the stores’ premises in order to mitigate product thefts. The searches, which required employees to wait in line for as much as 10 minutes, were conducted while they were off-the-clock. The workers say they should be compensated for the time spent on the searches, which were performed for Apple’s benefit. They are suing for lost wages and other compensation.

Upset: Samsung has beaten Apple to snatch the top consumer satisfaction scores for its flagship smartphones[7], Forbes notes. Not one, but two Samsung smartphones — the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 — topped the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 in the American Consumer Satisfaction Index. The two Samsung phones scored an 84 out of a possible 100 in the study, while the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S came in at a score of 82. The iPhone 4 trailed with a score of 81.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[8] stories.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/07/wednesday-apple-rumors-foxconn-hiring-jumps-for-iphone-5s/

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