First iPhone X batch reportedly only contains 46,500 units
Reports detailing the first shipment of Apple's $999 iPhone X claim there will be even fewer devices to go around than originally expected. According to a Digitimes report that references news from the Chinese outlet Xinhuanet.com, Apple's manufacturer Foxconn recently began shipping the first round of iPhone Xs to the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, but that first batch only included 46,500 devices.
The iPhone X's initial shipment is much lower than previous iPhone models, and some reports suggest the holdup is due to the new TrueDepth camera. This technology is responsible for new features in the iPhone X including FaceID and animoji. According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the TrueDepth camera's structure makes it "far more complex" than cameras of competing devices, making it harder for Foxconn to mass-produce the iPhone X. Nikkei Asian Review speculates the biggest production challenges surround the dot projector, which projects more than 30,000 dots on the user's face to create a depth map to enable FaceID, animoji, and other features.
