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By the numbers: How Foxconn churns out Apple’s iPhone 5S

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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November 27, 2013, 11:17 AM ET
Tim Cook at a Foxconn iPhone factory.

FORTUNE — Foxconn made headlines last week when it announced plans to build a $30 million factory in Pennsylvania that will create 300 American jobs within two years.

To put that in perspective, consider the stats the
Wall Street Journal
‘s Lorraine Luk rattled off Wednesday in her report on how Foxconn managed to shorten wait times for (AAPL) iPhone 5S from 2-3 weeks to 3-5 business days:

  • 1,000,000: Number of workers Foxconn employs in China
  • 100,000: Number of production lines it runs
  • 300,000: Number of people working exclusively on the iPhone 5S
  • 24 hours, 7 days a week: Foxconn’s iPhone 5S factory runtime
  • 500,000: Daily iPhone 5S output from Foxconn’s Zhengzhou site

Foxconn is the trade name of Taiwan-based Hon Hai, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer. Apple is its biggest customer.

About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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