Manufacturers vie for chance to build Euro, Asian iPhones

Handset makers Inventec Appliances and Quanta Computer are competing to become Apple’s second assembly partner for the iPhone, according to a DigiTimes report. Quanta president Michael Wang has set a goal to aggressively strive to become a partner for iPhone production. A recent Goldman Sachs report claims that while Foxconn Electronics remains the exclusive supplier for US-bound iPhones, orders have been split with Quanta for the European version of the phone. The firm also claimed that Foxconn, Quanta, and Inventec are all bidding to become suppliers of the Asian version of the handset. The report notes that it “would be difficult for either Inventec or Quanta to compete with Foxconn to win iPhone orders, given the investment Foxconn has already put into production of the iPhone. However, Apple may still choose to outsource a small portion of iPhone assembly to manufacturers other than Foxconn, in order to lessen its exposure to one partner and lower its market risk.” [via MacWorld UK]