(REUTERS) - Apple's biggest iPhone assembler Foxconn Technology Group has let go around 50,000 contract workers in China since October, months earlier than normal, Nikkei reported on Friday (Jan 18).

The scale of the cuts is not necessarily deeper than previous years, it is simply significantly earlier, the report said, citing an industry source familiar with the situation.

"It's quite different this year to ask assembly line workers to leave before the year end," the source told Nikkei.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, was not immediately available for a comment.

Earlier this month, Nikkei reported that Apple cut current-quarter production plan for new iPhones by 10 per cent in the face of slowing demand in China, the world's largest smartphone market.