Okay, it's not a plant manager. It's not even an assembly line employee. It's a recruiter at the Foxconn factory gate.
That being said, it's a recruiter at a Foxconn factory gate—you know, where they make Apple products.
There have been rumors swirling around the inevitable iPhone 5—namely, that Foxconn is now going on a hiring spree. As the International Business Times pointed out, this is fueling rumors that Apple is planning on a June release for the iPhone 5.
In a report on Japanese display makers, WBS News visited China's Taiyuan, noting, like previous reports, Foxconn is hiring up.
Foxconn recently purchased a large stake in Sharp, which is already an Apple supplier.
When a WBS reporter asked a recruiter at Foxconn's Taiyuan factory about all the help wanted ads, he replied, "Now, we're recruiting 18,000 people to make the Apple iPhone 5."
The reporter noted that was a lot of people to which the recruiter replied, "That's because it seems like it will go on sale around June."
The interview was conducted from a distance, and it doesn't look like the recruiter knew he was on camera and his reply is hardly rock solid.
Apple usually releases its iPhone hardware in June: the iPhone 3G went on sale in a June; the iPhone 3GS dropped in a June; and the iPhone 4 launched in a June. The iPhone 4S was released in an October, so it's a bit of an oddity. We'll know this June if the iPhone 5 is indeed coming out—or maybe, we'll know this fall.
"日の丸液晶"新会社始動 [WBS via Naver]