Apple ups iPhone production 'by 12%'
56 million units to be churned out in H2 2011
If you believe the whispers coming out of Taiwain and China, Apple is expecting to shift 56 million iPhones of one type or another during the last six months of 2011.
Taiwan-based supply chain moles say Apple has upped its production requirement from the 50m units it ordered at the end of Q2, DigiTimes reports.
iPhone 5 orders will total 25.5m to 26m units, apparently, 5.5-6m of them in Q3 - September, essentially, since it won't be out until then - and the rest in Q4.
That, the moles say, represents a small reduction in Q3 volumes but a big increase in Q4 orders. Apple is clearly expecting a bumper Christmas.
Likewise iPhone 3GS, 4 GSM and 4 CDMA have seemingly been revised down in Q4 and increased in Q3. So Apple will be keeping iPhone 5 availability tight at first, but does expect some punters to plump for the olders models if they can't get their mitts on the new one.
The fact the 3GS is still in the mix may suggest this model will become the keenly awaited low-cost iPhone. ®
COMMENTS
So Apple will be keeping iPhone 5 availability tight at first!
Dosn't seem that way. One month of sales in Q3, 3 months in Q4 would be a 6mill vs 18mill. Q4 has always been the best quarter by miles for CE sales so a 33% ramp up for xmas is business as normal. Of course if Apple releases the Iphone5 on the ninth (they will release it on the friday so 2nd or 9th are the likly dates) then it it 3 weeks vs 13 weeks and a 5% ramp up!
In other news, ...
... human rights advocates report that incidents of worker mistreatment and gross safety violations at FoxConn have coincidentally increased by 12%...
Really?
"So Apple will be keeping iPhone 5 availability tight at first"
Hmm... surely that will generate hype and ramp up demand artificially? That doesn't sound like something Apple would do...
