The much talked-about iPhone 6 of Apple is coming in August, one month ahead of the expected release, based on information sourced out by Reuters from the Economic Daily News, a newspaper in Taiwan.
The newspaper reported on Friday that its unnamed supply-chain sources disclosed that Apple obtained parts of the device from several Taiwanese suppliers, such as Largan Precision and Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co. Largan is a top maker of mobile phone lenses, while Visual is a wafer maker.
These sources likewise said that Apple also apparently advised other Taiwanese electronics manufacturers, such as Pegatron and Foxconn, to start the production for the new handset sometime late in June.
The newest Taiwanese company to join the production is said to be Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the largest contract chipmaker in the world, which supposedly began to make iPhone chips in February.
The Reuters report also said Apple has been working with some of the finest electronics companies in Taiwan, specifically for the production of the iPhone series. These manufacturers were contacted either to provide the components or to assemble the mobile phones.
Besides the speculated 4.7-inch screen display, no other details were clear yet. Some industry observers though think that the new iPhone 6 would have curved edges and extremely thin design, among other things. Talks of a higher version of iPhone 6 with 5.5 or 5.6-inch screen display also abound online, which would likely follow release sometime in September.
The Nikkei business daily in Japan, in fact, also reported the rumored iPhone 6 versions two months ago, saying the unit is set for release sometime in September. It also said that the new model is Apple's latest weapon in the battle of the smartphones.
It was not specified by these reports which markets would be seeing the rumored iPhone 6 handsets first, but the company is said to be expecting to sell a total of 80 million units. The early release was purportedly due to the effect of recent launches of bigger-screen mobile phones from its rivals, such as Samsung and HTC, which affected the global market share and sales of Apple.
Market watchers say Apple's move to increase the screen size is a good one, as it would help the company regain its market share from other industry competitors, especially from its bitter rival Samsung that has already been producing handsets with bigger screen size.
When asked for comment, Apple representatives and Taiwanese companies mentioned in the newspaper's report allegedly refused to speak a word about the speculated iPhone 6.
