Apple must have bought into Foxconn because the company has returned 5 to 8 million iPhones to the Taiwanese manufacturer, according to a report today.
With labor costs estimated to be USD $200 (UK£131, AUD$195) for each smartphone, that means Foxconn is taking a loss of up to $1.6 billion, reports China Business through The Register.
This is further bad news for Apple's go-to manufacturer. Foxconn recently posted its worst revenue numbers in over a decade.
Its 19 percent year-over-year first quarter slump is being blamed on a slowdown of once rock solid iPhone and iPad sales.
Which iPhones are to blame?
While China Business quotes unnamed Foxconn insiders, it doesn't go as far as to reveal which version or versions of the iPhone are to blame for the defects.
Digging through the archives, however, there is one Apple smartphone that faced more botched cases than all of the others: the iPhone 5.
In fact, user complaints of scratch-prone iPhone 5 handsets reached such a high that it forced Apple to reportedly recall production of its smartphone to address the aluminum issues.
Likewise, the company received complaints that the same device would leak light between the display and the antenna, just underneath of the power button.
iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 speculation
Apple didn't comment to TechRadar about which model it returned to Foxconn or what went wrong with its production.
Speculation by The Register that the unusable batch of iPhones could include the forthcoming iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 is a possibility, but an unlikely one.
