Citing supply chain sources, a major Taiwanese newspaper is reporting that Apple will release its new iPhone, expected to be called the “iPhone 6”, this August, a month earlier than expected.
The Economic Daily News (EDN) says the company’s decision to move the device’s launch date up follows a period of down sales the company experienced due to rivals Samsung and HTC launching phones with bigger screens.
A bit more specifically, the EDN quoted unnamed sources as stating Apple recently made the move to acquire parts from several Taiwanese-based suppliers, including wafer maker Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co., and Largan Precision, a company that makes lenses for mobile
Lending support to the story, Taiwanese electronics contract makers Foxconn, Pegatron, and others have all been notified by Apple to start their assembly lines for the company’s new handset around late June.
Come August, Apple is expected to bring a new 4.7-inch version of its popular iPhone product to market. A higher-end version of the new model, with a 5.5- or 5.6-inch screen will be unveiled in September as originally planned.
Apple expects total sales to be approximately 80 million units for both versions.
Worth noting from this story is the focus Apple is placing on Taiwanese electronics companies to supply the components necessary, or otherwise be responsible for the assembling of, the company’s new handsets. The latest company to join the Apple roster is the world’s largest contract chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which reportedly began producing chips for the new iPhone this past February.
It appears that the company is making it a point to reduce its reliance on Samsung for parts, as the two former business partners have turned bitter rivals in the mobile phone market, and are embroiled in several copyright court cases the world over.
Story via phys.org
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