Culprit in iPhone Shortage: It Scratches Too Easily

IPhone 5's shortages are due to a quality control crackdown aimed at reducing the number of handsets shipped with scratches, an insider tells Bloomberg. The special aluminum used to make the shell of the phone is lighter and thinner, but also softer and easier to scratch—though officially Apple says any scratching is "normal." IPhone aficionados, however, aren't buying it amid reports of phones emerging from the box with existing scratches. Chinese workers on the assembly line say the increased pressure to avoid scratches during production is what prompted the recent protests at Foxconn, though the manufacturer denies that claim. Click to read Apple's response to another iPhone 5 issue. (More iPhone 5 stories.)