You have to hand it to Apple. Really!

“Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn’t be happier,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We would like to thank all of our customers for making this our best launch ever, shattering all previous sell-through records by a large margin. While our team managed the manufacturing ramp better than ever before, we could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible.” Pretty speeches aside, the number is impressive and it will - most likely - continue to rise. But there are also those articles that speak of 140'000 phablets and 400'000 smartphones leaving Foxconn's facilities on a daily basis. An overwhelming task it seems. According to The Wall Street Journal, Foxconn is operating 100 production lines "around the clock" ... still not enough to satisfy pre-order demands. The EMS-giant and Apple's main manufacturing partner is apparently struggling to meet the wishes of those 4 million that pre-ordered their new phones within the 24 first hours. Not even mentioning the 6 million that followed. Nothing new as a matter of fact, but rather a repeat of iPhone 5 production orders. If we remember, Foxconn acknowledged production delays in mid 2012. So; if we give credit to some rumours - that of suppliers being asked to deliver between 70 and 80 million new iPhones by the end of the year - trouble was bound to occur. And yet ... 10 million Apple-Fashionistas are willing Chinese Foxconn workers to work faster and longer. Trouble indeed.