'iPhone 5S' said to begin trial production next month
Not a tasty enough rumor? Well, how about an Apple 'iTV' before mid-year?
This December, Apple's Asian product assemblers will begin the first trial-production batch of its next version of the iPhone, said to be dubbed the iPhone 5S, in preparation for large-scale shipments (大舉出貨) to begin in the first quarter of next year.
This news rumor comes via the Chinese-language Commercial Times in an article entitled 迎戰三星 iPhone5S出鞘, which Google Translate renders rather unhelpfully as "Against Samsung iPhone5S scabbard."
The Taiwanese market-watchers and rumor-mongerers at DigiTimes are presumably proficient in Chinese, and they read the Commercial Times article to say that the iPhone 5S will begin volume production in the first quarter of next year.
In addition, DigiTimes reports that the same article says the next-generation iPad – which would be generation five – will be released in the quarter following the iPhone 5S's debut.
To complete the rumor trifecta, Google Translate's attempt at decoding the Commercial Times article also refers to an Apple "iTV" being released in the first half of 2013.
Rumors of an Apple-branded big-screen TV have been making the rounds for some time, with Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster noting in February 2009 that an Apple television would hit the market in 2011.
That – quite obviously – didn't happen, but the rumors have continued. For his part, Munster revised his timing prediction in late 2010, saying that Cupertino "will likely launch an all-in-one Apple Television in the next 2-4 years."
Munster has not been alone in his predictions. This June, for example, analyst Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets wrote in an investment note concerning Apple's television plans, saying, "We believe the pieces are in place for a launch soon," and that, "A holiday launch would make for a very merry holiday season for Apple and consumers."
Rumors, speculation, and predictions are all well and good, but seeing as how DigiTimes' recent report of a Foxconn expansion into the US was quickly repudiated by that iPhone-and-more assembler, we're even more likely to take their scuttlebutt with the customary grains of salt.
That said, the fact that this iPhone, iPad, and "iTV" report comes originally from sources speaking to the Commercial Times and not to DigiTimes, we'll file it away and keep our eyes peeled for more East Asian buzz about Apple's plans.
Only Cook & Co. know, of course, if and when an Apple-branded television will appear, but the next iteration of the iPhone is certainly a question of "when", not "if". ®
COMMENTS
Re: There will be no iPhone 5S...
Blimey. I can't believe how ANGRY some of you people get over the success of a product that clearly meets the needs of millions of people who just happen to not be YOU. I'm not sure who is more unfortunate: the people who queue outside a store before a product is launched (let's not forget that this isn't a phenomenon reserved for Apple customers) or people who get so incandescent at someone else's shopping preferences!
Sounds like an Apple product isn't the right choice for YOU but, to be honest, you sound pretty whiny when you bleat about how terrible their products are, particularly when it's so one-sided: presumably everything made or done by ANY other company is sheer perfection in comparison so you should be HAPPY that Apple throws things into such sharp relief for you.
Apple's ethics may be terrible but it baffles me as to why people continue to post their incoherent ramblings on an IT forum - as if they're trying to offer a public service to open people's eyes to their own personal version of reality. There are plenty of forums dedicated to anti-Apple views; why not go and post over there where you'll be amongst like-minded individuals, rather than here.
And perhaps I'm the only one who can see the irony of people using the term "sheeple" so often that they themselves are demonstrating the very behaviours that the term is intended to convey...
For what I need, most of Apple's products are too expensive and don't have all the features I need but I'm not wasting my time repeatedly bashing them - I make my choice and buy whatever suits me best whilst realising (and being happy) that millions are very happy with their Apple products.
AC because we can all predict the hysterical response that this is likely to get from people who are dedicated to all things anti-Apple.
Re: Wasn't this more meaningful when...
Bloody hell, think of how much money you could have saved if you had bought one good smartphone, one good PC and one good TV instead of following fashion.
Apple TV, hardly worth the trouble
Gven the absolute garbage that passes for TV these days, does anyone really want access improved?
Do you want to see some ageing matron of a Tory MP getting squeezed in a box with 5,000 bugs and labelled 'reality'?
We need more quality drama from the BBC as well as David Attenborough-type shows so children can learn.
Munster
Sounds like one of those apocalypse nutjobs insisting the world will end on a certain date - only to "revise" his claim due to "new interpretations" of the information provided to him by sources that only he has access to.
At least apocalyptical types bugger off after getting it wrong a few times - analysts just start predicting something else.
