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Jay Greene/CNET
Production on Apple’s next iPhone is starting to ramp up, according to a new report.
Manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron are on a hiring spree in China to get enough workers to build Apple’s next iPhone, Taiwan’s Economic Daily News is reporting. Hon Hai alone will be recruiting over 100,000 people in China to produce iPhones, according to Economic Daily News, and Pegatron plans to expand its workforce by 30 percent.
Each year, before Apple announces the iPhone, the company calls on Foxconn and Pegatron, among other manufacturers, to put the components together for its upcoming smartphone. That the companies are bringing on the employees now follows rumors that Apple will launch its new iPhone this fall and not in the summer, as some had hoped.
The big question left unanswered in the Economic Daily News report, however, is whether Apple plans one or two iPhones this year. Several reports that have come out in recent months have suggested that Apple will launch a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 in the fall, followed by a 5.5-inch phablet for later in the year. Apple has not confirmed either possibility, but several leaks out of China suggest that the company could be planning multiple iPhone versions this year.
According to the Taiwan publication, Foxconn will produce 70 percent of the iPhones that Apple plans to order this year, with the remaining 30 percent going to Pegatron.
CNET has contacted Apple for comment on the report. We will update this story when we have more information.
(Via Reuters)
