By Mark Prigg It is a tale of two phone firms. As Microsoft confirms it is laying off 18,000 workers, mainly in the mobile phone business it bought from Nokia, iPhone maker Foxconn has confirmed it has hired 100,000 new workers to manufacture the iPhone 6. It comes as 4.7-inch iPhone production is expected to start next week, with the larger 5.5inch version set to start three weeks later. Scroll down for video An image last week, also leaked by Sonny Dickson, revealed the two new iPhone 6 models side-by-side Synthetic sapphire is a hard, transparent material made of crystallising aluminium oxide, produced at high temperatures.
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4.7-inch iPhone production to start third week of July
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5.5-inch version scheduled for second week of August
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Foxconn confirms hiring of 100K workers
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Recent video shows the 4.7inch handset's sapphire glass screen being bent, twisted, scratched with keys and even stabbed with a knife
It also survives having keys scratched across its surface - a common problem for @placeholder owners