As the purported parts and cases thought to belong to the iPhone 6 [1]  continue leaking out, Apple is now said to have started mass production of a 4.7-inch handset variant. As for a bigger 5.5-inch version, the handset is understood to enter production in September, alongside upcoming new iPads .
If true, there may after all be some truth to the rumors that the two phones wonât launch simultaneously in order to avoid cannibalization. Just yesterday, for instance, the hit-and-miss DigiTimes said the 4.7 and 5.5-inch models of the iPhone 6 will launch separately as Apple wants to âavoid competition between the two modelsâ⦠[2]
GforGames [3] Â writes, citing Chinese media reports [4] [Google translate [5] ], that the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 variant âhasnât entered its mass production stages just yetâ, while manufacture of its 4.7-inch counterpart has reportedly started.
Both the next iPad mini and the second-generation iPad Air will also enter mass production in September, the story has it.
This confirms previous rumors  and a recent Wall Street Journal  article stating Apple is gearing up for a record production of 70 to 80 million iPhone 6 units this year.
A look into Appleâs supply chain commitments made public in Appleâs recent SEC filing [6] prove the firm is gearing up for a huge product launch this Fall. The chart below, via Morgan Stanleyâs Katy Huberty and obtained by Business Insider [7] , tells a very interesting story.
According to Huberty, off-balance sheet commitments âconfirm major product ramps later this yearâ. For those unfamiliar with off-balance sheet commitments, the term denotes prepayments for product components, money spent on factory tooling and machines, advertising, research and development, Internet and telecommunications services and so forth.
Long story short, Appleâs total supply chain commitments at the end of the June quarter surged a massive 46 percent year-over-year to $15.4 billion, or 36 percent sequentially.
The figure represents the highest annual growth since just before the iPhone 5 launched and the highest sequential growth for a June quarter since 2007 when Apple started selling the iPhone, says Huberty.
Clearly, Apple is expecting a lot from the iPhone 6 launch this Fall. Moreover, the massive surge in capital expenditure on manufacturing equipment is a strong indicator of brand new product categories entering Appleâs supply chain (iWatch [8] , anyone?)
Hereâs another chart on what Apple is up to, this one from Stifel (via Jay Yarow [9] ).
As for the iPhone 6, the reports cited by GforGames claim that Appleâs supply chain is âcurrently facing yield issues, adding that the production capacity will increase by up to 80-85 percent in the fourth quarter thanks to âvarious upgradesâ that Appleâs contract fabricator Foxconn has brought to its production lines.
Itâs been previously reported that Foxconn is preparing to deploy sophisticated robots to help assemble devices in its plants, though these Foxbots, as theyâre called, will play more of a supporting role in factories.
Looks like itâs going to be a busy Fall this year for Apple.
What are your expectations?
Links
- ^ iPhone 6 (idownloadblog.com)
- ^ DigiTimes (www.digitimes.com)
- ^ GforGames (www.gforgames.com)
- ^ Chinese media reports (money.udn.com)
- ^ Google translate (translate.google.com)
- ^ SEC filing (www.sec.gov)
- ^ Business Insider (www.businessinsider.com)
- ^ iWatch (idownloadblog.com)
- ^ Jay Yarow (twitter.com)
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