The latest in iPhone 5 rumors claims that Apple won’t be starting mass production of the iPhone 5 until September, which corroborates previous reports that Apple won’t be unveiling the device at WWDC this summer.
If production doesn’t start until September, Apple could be waiting to unveil and announce ship dates for the next gen iPhone at their annual September event. Although iOS 5 will be previewed this summer, there could be an official launch of Apple’s new software alongside an iPhone 5 announcement later this year…
According to a note from Avian Securities, the iPhone 5 is scheduled for a late Fall 2011 or early 2012 release. After hearing from “yet another” key component supplier, Avian claims that Apple isn’t ready to begin iPhone production for the usual summer release schedule.
Business Insider reports,
“Apple’s new iPhone 5 should go into production in September says Avian Securities in a note this morning.
This suggests the iPhone won’t be on the market until the end of this year, or even early next year possibly, says Avian.
Apple could also be developing a lower price/lower spec iPhone model, says Avian.”
We’ve already heard from multiple sources in the industry that Apple won’t follow its usual roadmap in 2011. The Verizon iPhone was just launched in February, and Apple has a totally different position in the mobile market. The forming merger between AT&T and T-Mobile could also be a part of why Apple is holding off on announcing the iPhone 5. There has also been speculation that Apple could be waiting for the maturation of LTE on American carriers.
Avian Securities’ full note,
“Supporting out comments over the last month, conversations with yet another key component supplier indicates that production for iPhone-5 will begin in September. This is consistent with Avian findings in the supply chain in recent months and we believe the consensus view is moving towards this scenario.
In addition, our conversations also indicate the existence of a lower-spec/lower-priced iPhone in Apple’s roadmap. However, while our contacts have seen the placeholder in the Apple roadmap, they do not yet have insight into specs or production timing. This leads us to believe that any launch is likely a very late 2011 or more likely a 2012 event.
As a reminder, Avian has uncovered several data-points in recent months pointing to the existence of a lower-spec/lower-price iPhone. A lower-spec/lower-price iPhone has also been speculated in the press and gadget blogs, though we do not believe consensus currently discounts the existence of such a model.”
Avian also confirms previous reports that Apple is looking at making a cheaper ‘iPhone nano‘ in the future. We’ve shared our thoughts on why Apple shouldn’t start offering cheaper devices, but an interview with Apple execs in February revealed that Apple may be indeed considering a cheaper, contract-free iPhone.
As far as this summer is concerned, the odds of an iPhone announcement aren’t looking good. Most likely, Apple will unveil the next gen iPhone at a September event, with ship dates scheduled for late 2011.
What do you think? Are you starting to believe that we won’t see the iPhone 5 this summer after all?