Apple Suspends Part of iPhone 8 Plus Production Due to Unauthorized Parts

A new report claims that Apple has requested one of its suppliers to temporarily suspend production of the iPhone 8 Plus after it discovered that unauthorized parts were used on its devices.
 
The Commercial Times claims that production at Wistron’s plant in Kunshan, China was put on hold for two weeks, as Apple started an investigation on possible use of waterproof components coming from an uncertified supplier.
 
No official information was provided in this regard, but Digitimes writes that Wistron has already denied the report, claiming that production is running normally. No unauthorized components were used for the production of iPhone 8 Plus, the company says, so it hasn’t introduced a “two-week production suspension as reported and operations remain completely normal.”
 
The original report indicated that following Apple’s investigation, Wistron “penalized several mid- and high-level executives” in an attempt to regain Apple’s trust, though the Cupertino-based tech giant wanted to conduct its very own investigation to determine whether any unauthorized components were used on its model.
 
Wistron is responsible for building only a small part of the iPhone 8 Plus inventory, as Foxconn is in charge of making some 80 percent of all units sold worldwide. The company’s shares fell more than 5% on news that it suspended production of the iPhone 8 Plus before recovering following its official statement.
 
While Apple has remained tight-lipped until now on this report, the company is paying particular attention to the manufacturing process of its devices, especially following claims of increasing labor violations at its own suppliers.
 
The company has conducted its own audit of supply chain partners to discover twice as many so-called core violations in 2017 as compared to the previous year. Apple says it treats such issues with zero tolerance, going as far as ending supplier contracts if suppliers do not comply with its requirements.
 

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