Report: Foxconn Boosts iPhone 5s Production Ahead of Holidays

As the holiday season ramps up, so do the production levels at iPhone manufacturing plant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the company is working its 1 million-plus employees around the clock to meet demand for the iPhone 5s.

North central China's Zhengzhou plant, running at full capacity, has about 300,000 people dedicated to making just the new flagship smartphone and its components — a task that requires about 600 workers for each production line.

An anonymous Hon Hai executive told the paper that about 500,000 iPhone 5s ( at Amazon) devices are being created every day — "the highest daily output ever," he said.

That boost has helped to knock Apple's online shipping estimates down from 2-3 weeks to 3-5 days, which is certainly enough time to slip a new smartphone into someone's holiday stocking.

And those who don't trust the postal service to transport their new device can visit a local Apple retail store to personally pick it up instead.

The trouble is, assembling an iPhone 5s takes more time and effort than building its sibling iPhone 5c, or its predecessor iPhone 5, each of which required only 500 workers per production line.

"Although the market had concerns over demand for the new iPhone before its launch, our Zhengzhou site's production capacity for iPhones has continued to grow over the past two years," the executive said.

Production is not ramping up as much for the iPhone 5c ( at Amazon). According to the Journal, Apple last month reduced orders for its plastic smartphone.

Apple did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

For more, see PCMag's reviews of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, as well as the slideshow above. Also check out 2 Months Later, There's Still a Line for iPhone 5s.