White iPhone 4 Delayed Further

The launch of Apple’s white iPhone 4 has been delayed until later in the year due to manufacturing issues.

In a statement on the Apple website, the company admitted that “White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected.” However, it reassured customers that the availability of black models has not been affected.

Apple gave no further details of when the white model would be available, nor of the cause of the delay.

Manufacturing problems

Earlier this month it was rumoured that the company commissioned to create the white iPhone covers – Lens Technology in China – had been struggling to find the right balance between paint thickness and opacity, and had been unable to produce a casing white enough to meet Apple’s standards.

An insider told Chinese-language newspaper 21st Century Business Herald that the machines used by Lens Technology were capable of producing just three iPhone 4 glass covers per hour, meaning that the company would only be able to meet half of Apple’s quota.

Meanwhile, Apple has been plagued with complaints over an antenna issue associated with the black version of the device. When users hold the iPhone 4 in the left hand with their palm covering the lower left part of the stainless steel band that houses some of its antennas, they can either lose signal altogether, or experience a much weaker signal strength.

In response, Apple is offering free silicone cases – which insulate the phone’s antenna – to all users. “We haven’t figured out a way around the laws of physics yet,” joked Apple CEO Steve Jobs at a press conference last week.

Still popular

Despite these ongoing problems, sales of Apple’s iPhone 4 have been through the roof since the device went on sale on 24 June. According to the company’s own figures, more than 1.7 million iPhone 4 smartphones were sold in the three days following the launch.

Jobs did confess last week that sales have slowed since the antenna problem was reported, with only three million phones sold in three weeks. However, he claimed that only 1.7 percent had been returned by customers, compared to a six percent return rate for the iPhone 3GS, which launched last year.