Apple has hailed the launch of the iPhone 3G as a huge success, with over one million handsets sold over the first weekend in the market and demand still going strong. So strong, indeed, that the company has reportedly ramped up production beyond its original estimates to 800,000 units per week.
That translates to about 41.6 million iPhones being churned out of the Foxconn manufacturing plant each year. With original iPhone sales at just over 6 million units, the boosted 3G iPhone production is a clear indicator of Apple's rapid-growing share of the smartphone market. The build rate is said to be "above current full capacity" for the Foxconn facilities allotted to Apple's handset business, which has led to concerns that quality control may suffer.
A bump in production should not necessarily mean that Foxconn will keep up that pace for the rest of the year, but with more countries expected to carry the iPhone 3G in the next several months and the holiday season looming, one can only expect such will be the case.
In related news, Apple has released a minor yet much-anticipated update to its iPhone software, bringing the version to 2.0.1. The company has not given any specific details about this particular update except that it contains "bug fixes." As usual, the update can be downloaded on the iPhone through the Apple iTunes application itself.