Chip Supploers Gearing Up For Next-Generation iPhone Silicon – Early October Release Probable
Posted by CharlesMoore on Sunday Jun 17, 2012 Under iPhone 5 News, iPhone 5 PredictionsDigitimes’ Cage Chao and Steve Shen reported Friday that chipmakers including Qualcomm, Broadcom, STMicroelectronics, NXP, Texas Instruments (TI) and OmniVision have have according to industry sources commenced building up stocks of their silicon components to be used in Apple’s next-generation iPhone.
Chao and Shen say Qualcomm and Broadcom are producing 4G and Wi-Fi chips using a 28nm process at major chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), with insider sources also noting that OmniVision is currently also seeking capacity at TSMC’s fabrication facilities, resulting a tight production capacity for the foundry’s 28nm process.
Qualcomm’s rumored difficulties in getting its 28-nanometer LTE 4G baseband chip into volume production were cited last spring by Piper Jaffray analyst and veteran Apple-watcher Gene Munster according to a report by modmyi.com’s Michael Essany as a reason behind the iPad 5 release delay, so if production of the Qualcomm chips is finally getting under way, that would support a fall new iPhone release.
STMicroelectronics is also reported to be ramping up production of MEMS devices, with NXP and TI also building up inventory of analog ICs for iPhones.
The International Business Times’s Dave Smith reasonably deduces that since Apple plans on releasing iOS 6 this fall, and in the past has released new iOS versions at the same time as idevice upgrades, as it did with iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S last year, he anticipates the next-generation iPhone will be unveiled alongside iOS 6 likely around the beginning of October, noting that release time frame is proven to be the best time to release new products, as evidenced by iPhone sales hitting an all-time high in 2011 — even more importantly, Smith says, Apple has learned that an iPhone released near Christmastime will result Santa having plenty of iPhones to deliver. He cites the iPhone 4S not only being the No. 1 item on teens’ and young adults’ Christmas wish lists, but also was in general one of the bestselling tech items before, during and after Christmas.
Smith also provides a worth perusing profile of features coming in iOS 6, some of which were not announced by Apple at the WWDC last week.
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June 17th, 2012 at 2:54 am
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June 17th, 2012 at 6:20 am
I still suspect they might announce the new iPhone in late August or early September, for release in about October. It would seem prudent to time the announcement to occur about the same time as the IOS 6 release. A September announcement would cover the back-to-school market as well as the Christmas shopping season.
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June 17th, 2012 at 8:43 am
Bored, bored, bored…I’ve lost interest in waiting for the ethereal iP5, will continue to check in but can’t be bothered with all this secrecy any more…
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June 17th, 2012 at 11:58 am
not that anyone cares but..
after seeing iOS 6 and comparing it with ICS,
i have decided to buy the galaxy nexus.
the iphone 5 will be a very solid phone and i hope all you readers here at the iphone5newsblog get what you want.
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June 17th, 2012 at 9:52 pm
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June 17th, 2012 at 10:39 pm
@Dragonj Where was I rude? I just gave my opinion on what makes the most sense to me. Sorry if that came off as rude. Didn’t intend it that way.
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June 18th, 2012 at 3:28 am
Like I’ve said before, when Apple means fall, they mean fall! So an early October release makes the most logical sense in my head for an iPhone to be released along side a final version of iOS 6. Maybe some of you know about other factors that could affect the release date, but I think it is pretty much set in stone from here until the fall. Now what it will come down to is what technology is included, what the phone will look like, and how the software will utilize the hardware.
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June 18th, 2012 at 4:27 am
15 more weeks or so of us all going potty waiting for this elusive phone!
Come on everybody – we can wait can’t we?
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June 18th, 2012 at 5:41 am
–> Vernicularis
Ans: We’ve waited and waited and waited and now been waiting over 2 yrs for a new phone. the 4S was not a new phone..simply a slapddahs attempt at trying to milk the apple fanbase.
When they do release the new phone – it had better blow our minds..but sadly I fear it will simply be a tweak of the existing design with some Apple-esque features that they’ve nicked from others and re-badged as their own (case in point – google maps and turn by turn navigation…ooo aaaa…never seeen that before!).
I’ll be waiting, but not as eagerly as before and I’m expecting to be disappointed…so let’s see if Ive/Cook can produce a surprise whenever they can be bothered to release the new phone…
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June 18th, 2012 at 5:42 am
** excuse my crap typing:
** slapdash
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June 18th, 2012 at 8:43 am
Well no matter what the new phone looks like or what software is included, one thing for sure, it will be a great improvement over my cracked-screen iPhone 3G…. so bring it on Apple(it’s difficult playing games and reading messages between the cracks). HA! im 2-3 years over due for an upgrade.
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June 18th, 2012 at 8:59 am
@wicket It is not your general opinion I found rude, it was your comparison of ‘Charles’ to ‘Nace’. One is your use of first name to your preferred author vs. last name of Michael. Other is that they both provide valuable insights and whether one or another is correct on an occasion should not matter. I appreciate both of their writings and enjoy if their opinions are in discord as that leads to funner discussions and overall thinking.
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June 18th, 2012 at 9:51 am
For the record, a lot of people call me “Nace.” For my whole life, people have liked calling me by my last name. Probably just because it’s just one syllable: NACE. I didn’t take any offense to it. And I also don’t take any offense to wicket or anyone thinking my opinions make less sense. Charles’ belief that the iPhone 5 will be coming in the late summer or early fall is in line with the rest of the tech community; I was the one going out on a limb. For my part, I think that my reasoning for a June announcement and July makes more sense, for all of the various arguments that I put forward in previous articles. But I’m just some guy: i’m no Jim Darlymple. Heck — I don’t even know that I just spelled his name correctly!
But I will say this: Apple was wrong not to have announced the iPHone 5 here. It was a mistake.
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June 18th, 2012 at 10:00 am
@Dragonj I didn’t even realize I used Charles’ first name and Michael’s last name, nor did I mean it as praising Charles or dissing Michael. I read both of their articles equally. It just so happens that that my opinions fall in line with Charles more often than Michael. In fact, I read Michael’s posts more carefully usually because he posts different opinions than me. Again. I wasn’t trying to offend anybody, and I probably should’ve used a different wording. I honestly don’t think Michael will take offense to what I said. I was just trying to state that Charles tends to follow my opinions over Michael.
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June 18th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
@Moo
I totally agree with you. I have been holding out with my 3G for 3+ years now which is partly my own fault as I just don’t like the form factor of the IP4.
But as it is so close it must be worth waiting to see what appears before we all decide on our next model?
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June 18th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Hi all,
For the record, I get called “Moore” a fair bit too.
Jim’s surname is spelled Dalrymple. He’s a fellow Nova Scotian, although our paths have never crossed.
My inference is that Apple may have had no choice in waiting for a fall release of the new iPhone, at least if they are going to include LTE/4G, since the word is that Qualcomm is just now getting the necessary chippery production up to speed.
Charles
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June 18th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
@Vondre. I thought I’m the only one who is still using the ancient 3G and waiting, waiting and waiting for 5.
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