...has "fake" written all over it. Granted, who knows what the actual production numbers are going to be, but the rumor is just ridiculous. I can understand if there are issues like yield (although with off-the-shelf parts, this shouldn't be a problem) or board layout (who knows), but it's not like Flextronics hasn't done this kind of manufacturing before -- as far as actual employee training goes, I'd expect that to _not_ be a problem at all. (in spite of how the rumor makes it sound)

Here is the web page for the Flextronics facility in Guadalajara (check out the pages for their other facilities, too, if you're bored :) ):

http://www.flextronics.com/Globalman/guadalajara.asp

Note that this facility already has its ISO-9xxx certifications, which is at least a nod in the direction of quality control/procedure control. (I used to work for a Very Large Company that was trying to become ISO-900x certified, and spent several years failing every year...not for lack of trying and not for lack of improvement, mind you.) The other thing is that I don't care _what_ day of the week you're starting production, "people in charge" will be there -- they can't afford a disaster any more than the company as a whole can.

I have no explanation for why this person started this rumor, but it just sounds really phony. Of course, the real test will be 11/15, and whether or not my preorder box is on the shelf. :) (yeah, I have to give full disclosure here -- I do have a preorder...)

The very idea that there would be only a handful of people there on a Sunday and those few people would somehow be able to crank up the whole assembly line, but then somehow run it slow enough to build only 10 functioning Xboxes, is ludicrous. You probably can't even start up the line with only 10 people. It's not like they're built by HAND. Why would "Dave" be there on Sunday doing "extra time" when he had nothing to do anyway?

The only thing that is reasonable about this report is when they began production - the 3rd week of September jibes with the time that Microsoft says they started production.

Now granted, the first day there are going to be a lot of faulty units, and the first couple weeks for that matter. That's the reality of large-scale complex electronics manufacture.

But when a company like Flextronics builds something like the Xbox, or TiVo, or whatever the hell, they don't have off-hours, and they don't start construction with a skeleton crew and no "big bosses." These assembly lines run 24 hours a day, with technicians operating in shifts, and it takes several hundred people to run the machines, test components, pack boxes, load trucks, etc.

The 3 million by November thing is just plain rediculous, too. If MS's "high" number is 800k by launch and 1.5 million by the end of the year, why would they need 3 mil from the Mexico plant in the first 5 weeks of production? Sure they have to start stocking up for a Japan/Europe launch, but they don't have to overproduce THAT much. Especially when they're going to ramp up another manufacturing plant overseas shortly.

The entire letter just reaks of bullshit.