iPhone 5 Display Report Complicates September 12th Announcement
Posted by Michael Nace on Thursday Aug 2, 2012 Under Apple RumorsSome tech media heavyweights have given the nod to the September 12th iPhone 5 announcement as being the real deal. But does a report today from Reuters regarding iPhone 5 display shipments call that date into question?
On Tuesday, Charles Moore outlined a new rumor that Apple is gearing up for an iPhone 5 announcement on September 12th, which was later supported by other tech media outlets. I had a chance to run the date by Sam Levin of App Minute and our correspondent for covering Apple events, and he seemed to believe as much, saying, “already on the Sept event trail, dude!” Between the release date and design being seemingly agreed upon, there doesn’t seem much left to do but twiddle our thumbs and wait.
But a report today from Reuters manage to raise a few eyebrows regarding iPhone 5 production, and whether a mide=-September announcement and late-September launch is indeed feasible.
The article reports that:
“Japan’s Sharp Corp. will start shipping screens destined for a new Apple iPhone that is widely expected to be released in October ahead of the pre-Christmas shopping season. ‘Shipments will start in August,’ Sharp’s new president, Takashi Okuda, said at a press briefing in Tokyo on Thursday after the company released its latest quarterly earnings. He declined to give a more specific date for shipments beyond this month.”
From a production standpoint, it’s great news, as this kind of evidence typically comes as the new iPhone nears completion. But the question remains: is roughly two months enough time for Apple to produce enough iPhone 5 units for the big launch?
The answer is difficult to arrive at, since no one really knows what the production process or schedule looks like, and where the displays fit into the mix. However, considering that we’ve purportedly gotten multiple looks at the iPhone 5 from different websites, and that iPhone 5 parts are allegedly flowing liberally out of places like Foxconn, it begs the question: is there another display provider who has already been supplying Apple with screens? Otherwise, are these rumored devices prototypes or actual production models?
Whatever the case, we know from experience that Apple can produce iPhones at quite a clip. A report on September 8th last year from Charles noted that Foxconn was producing 150,000 units a day. That was just about a month before the announcement. We reported the day about reports that the iPhone 4S had been in production for two months prior.
Based on these reports from last year, we know what Apple is capable of. The big consideration this year is that they are working with a completely new form factor, which undoubtedly must complicate production to some degree.
By Michael Nace
Michael Nace is the Publisher of the iPhone 5 News Blog and iPhone 6 News Blog. He has published articles about the iPhone since 2010.
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August 2nd, 2012 at 9:40 pm
I think we’re going to be in for a big surprise with the iPhone 5. If the “most valuable company in the world” tells us that they’re doubling down on security, I wouldnt doubt them for 1 second. The quote is from the news press that was talking about it a long time ago. For those of you who didnt hear, Apple is now the most valuable company in the world, so you can be reassured that great things are coming our way. No matter what is announced, or when it’s announced, it will be worth the wait.
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August 3rd, 2012 at 12:08 am
I am amazed at the bravery of the Sharp CEO to release Apple info to the press…. maybe Apple is in on this?
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August 3rd, 2012 at 2:09 am
@Christian Maybe Apple forgot to say “hey keep this a secret ; )” and CEO was like “Well if they didnt say so…..F*** IT IM GOIN IN!” Lol
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August 3rd, 2012 at 8:34 am
i think it is entirely plausible that they have more than once screen supplier for iphone, there may have even been a couple of articles about it. assuming they start assembly on 8/1(i know the article says shipments are to start in august) by 31 AUG they should have nearly 3,450,000 units not including the weekends. Another 1,200,000 by 9/12 and 1,050,000 by 9/21. those are rough estimates based off the 150,000 quota referenced in this article and reported by Charles in a previous post. that means at launch they should be able to produce roughly 5,700,000 units total. Those numbers may be old news now that Foxxconn has reportedly hired 200,000 new workers and built a larger facility to assemble the phones in. as you can see im highly optimistic about the 9/12 annoucement date.
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August 3rd, 2012 at 9:20 am
@Vondre’
As for the math, I think they work weekends there, so here are my numbers:
(assuming starting on 8/1/12)
If 15,000 workers can make 150,000 iphones/day (again, I have no data to support how many employees there are at Foxconn making the 150,000/day), so that makes 10 iPhones/day/employee
Add 20,000 (I checked on that one, it’s 20, not 200 thousand) workers at a lower rate (getting ramped up, we’ll put them at 8/day, so we get 160,000 more iPhones for a total of 310,000 iPhones/day.
OK, now we need to subtract the legacy ones they’re still making, let’s say 50,000/day, so we’re at 260,000 iPhone 5′s/day.
So that gives us 10,920,000 iPhone 5′s at announcement on 9/12/12. However, they don’t ship that day, so it’s 13,260,000 on 9/21/12.
I think that’s doable.
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August 3rd, 2012 at 9:27 am
OK, if my numbers are correct (big if…) and there are 3 models with a 20/40/40% distribution (20% for the low end, 40% for mid, and 40% for high end one), we get:
Low end @ $199: $527.8 million
mid @ $299: $1.585 billion
high end @ $399: $.2116 billion
Total for launch (selling ‘em all): $4.229 billion dollars.
Glad I kept that AAPL stock!
(see how the stock market works? A bunch of made up numbers fueling a bull… um… market!)
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August 3rd, 2012 at 10:38 am
@jeff even better numbers which makes the september launch date seem more plausible IMO. and yes it was a good move to keep those apple stocks according to that sales forecast you provided.
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August 3rd, 2012 at 10:47 am
i want it released in september, i need a new phone so googogogogogo apple!
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August 3rd, 2012 at 10:52 am
wait… that last one was $2.116B
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August 3rd, 2012 at 1:04 pm
I know this isn’t really related to this post but I’m kind of enjoying watching the Apple-Samsung trial going on. Of course we have no idea of how it will turn out but it appears that Apple may be getting it nose bloodied a little in the courtroom. Samsung seems ready to go nuclear on them by releasing previously confidential sales and other technical data. This may be a case of “be careful of what you ask for”. I hope this teaches Apple a lesson that they need to get back to competing instead of litigating to protect their status. They also lost their recent court case against Kodak on some imaging patent infringements. This notion that Apple can rest on their achievements and keep collecting enormous margins on two year old products is counter to market reality. Let’s hope that Apple can once again be a bold innovator again.
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August 3rd, 2012 at 1:23 pm
I agree @DudeAbides.
It’s ridiculous how Apple thinks they own the tech world. Apple has never really been the one to come out with an entirely new product….they just take the ideas from someone else and do an incredibly amazing job with it. So Samsung also builds a great phone and a great tablet and Apple goes crazy trying to sue them. They seem to have quickly forgotten that they didn’t invent things like the tablet computer, they just revolutionized it and made it a mainstream item.
The fact that Apple is trying to sue their biggest competitor makes me worry that Apple is running out of innovative ideas….especially without Steve Jobs. Tim Cook hasn’t revealed anything truly amazing just yet…who knows if he ever will. If Apple is really the king of tech and has plans for some amazing stuff then it wouldn’t matter what Samsung does because (in theory) Apple would be able to outperform them. Apple has $117 Billion in cash and they are suing Samsung for a couple billion?…I think it’s obvious that they feel like they have to cut their legs out from under them before they overtake Apple. Once again Apple is acting like a monopoly by putting up legal barriers. If Apple wins this battle, it will stymie innovation and all consumers will lose.
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August 3rd, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Completely different topic:
What is the speculation/justification for a longer screen with 16:9 resolution? Are people really spending a majority of their time on their phones watching widescreen movies? Is there really such a high demand for that? Everyone I know spends most of their time reading things on their phone and prefer to hold it upright, rather than horizontally. Personally, I would prefer a little wider AND longer….not just longer so that it makes it easier to read and look stuff up.
My biggest point/question is if there isn’t a huge demand for a longer 16:9 screen, could it be that Apple has some kind of cool new app or feature that justifies a longer screen? Apple is known for going against the grain at times in order to push out some new feature or new technology. Could that be the case with the longer phone (if it truly is the new [hideous] phone)?
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August 3rd, 2012 at 2:15 pm
@Mike D and DudeAbides: If a patent isn’t enforced, what good is it? A patent protects intellectual property, and therefore has some value, just as if somebody stole those 10.3 million imaginary iPhones from that imaginary warehouse, so it is the same with stealing Apple’s intellectual property. As for the amount of money Apple has in the bank, stealing a candy bar from Bill Gates is (or should be) just as illegal as stealing one from a guy sleeping on a park bench.
I understand your point on Apple’s creativity deficit, but if a company has a single point of failure (i.e. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerb…well, we’ll see on that one), it isn’t a solid company after all. Steve has been dead for almost a year, but product development isn’t a weekend in the garage, coming up with a whiz-bang idea. From what I’ve read, Steve was the idea guy, but also the taskmaster, making sure everything was up to his standards. He was also the showman and salesman. Mr. Cook may be a few of these, but I think he needs to get people on the stage that fulfill these roles to ensure the company goes on.
Lastly, we are (the regulars here) are, in effect, watching the muscle movement on the QB during one play in a football (American football, for those overseas) game, noting the way he flexed the wrong way, or how his pinkie should have gripped the ball better when throwing that pass. When we step back, we can see that the QB is doing fine, and it’s a long game. (Even longer if you’re a Browns fan…)
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August 3rd, 2012 at 3:20 pm
@Jeff, I agree that companies must protect their patents. But you also must admit that many of the patents that Apple filed (and were granted by our broken patent office) are rediculous. For example patenting the swipe to unlock, or the waving of you hand for gesture control, seriously? Check out this article to see what I’m referring to:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/260300/apple_v_samsung_highlights_insanity_of_tech_patents.html
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August 3rd, 2012 at 7:21 pm
I would also add in that Apple shouldn’t be immune just because they hold many patents. It’s not like they have never infringed upon or copied ideas from anybody else. They just have a lot more money sitting around and can flex their muscles to try to get what they want. I’m certainly not trying to argue with you because I agree and I think you make a really good point. The more and more I read about the big battle between Apple and Samsung the more and more I am convinced that Samsung is just as innocent as any other company and that Apple is just whining.
Apple has all the resources they need to be the best and most innovative company that is always on the cutting edge. They could put up a real battle and let sales determine who does it the best…but instead they release a product like the 4S (instead of the iphone 5) and it appears that they are about to release yet another iteration of the same phone. They seem to be doing a lot of talking (complaining) lately without backing it up on the production line.
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