Pegatron Reported To Be Producing iPhone 5 Units; New Dock Connector Rumor Goes Mainstream

More and more iPhone 5 production rumors abound, putting the new iPhone in line for an announcement and release similar to that of the iPhone 4S in

2011. Meanwhile, those persistent rumors of the smaller dock connector have seeped into the mainstream media.

It was just about this time last year that we started to hear about the likes of Foxconn and Pegatron getting busy with iPhone 5 production rumors. Little

did we know at the time that we’d end up with the pedestrian iPhone 4S. But if the abortive 2011 iPhone 5 speculation has a silver lining, it’s that it gave

us a timeline to compare all of this year’s rumors against.

And true to form, we’re beginning to hear whisperings that the iPhone 5 is actually — finally — in production.

The news today comes by way of a DigiTimes source, which claims that the iPhone 5 assembly is underway in Shanghai, with backup assembler

Pegatron getting to work on pumping out new iPhone units. According to CNET:

“iPhone 5 production reports are rolling in from Asia with more frequency. This time, a Taipei-based report claims that Pegatron has started making

the next iPhone. The Taiwan-based manufacturer has begun production of a new version of the iPhone at its factory in Shanghai, according to Digitimes,

citing “industry sources in Taiwan.” This follows a week-earlier report claiming basically the same thing — though that report did not specify the

manufacturer.”

The “week-earlier” report that CNET is referring to is one that came from Japanese rumor blog Macotakara. However, CNET dilutes this new DigiTimes

production rumor by linking it to the Macotakara rumor, since “. . .the Macotakara blog cites listings for iPhone 5 cases on China’s Alibaba.com.”

Not the most rock-solid proof of iPhone 5 production, to be sure.

However, the arc of these iPhone 5 production rumors are somewhat similar to what we heard last year, with Pegatron leading the way in getting started

on serious production. Considering that Foxconn ends up taking on the bulk of the production workload, it remains to be seen why Pegatron is often first

out of the gate in terms of production. However, that seems to be the case once again.

Last year, Charles Moore reported on September 8th, 2011 about a widespread production ramp-up for the iPhone 5, with Foxconn producing some

150,000 units a day. But that was in September — we’re not even into August yet. It may be that we are seeing Apple get an early start on iPhone 5

production in 2012, since the new iPhone will ostensibly be an overhaul from the iPhone 4 design that has persisted since 2010. However, in spite of

these early production rumors, I still do not anticipate an announcement before September, and even a September announcement would be a bit of a

shock. Given the fact that Apple passed on the WWDC for an iPhone 5 announcement, the smart money would have to be on another October

announcement.

Dock Connector Rumor For iPhone 5 Goes Mainstream

I had promised not to over-report on the dock connector rumor for the iPhone 5, since it is one of the more mundane rumored changes for the next

iPhone, and one that carries with it little upside for the end user. However, the dock connector rumors don’t seem to be going away.

Now, Reuters is even making it a story:

“The iPhone 5, Apple’s next generation iPhone expected to go on sale around October, will come with a 19-pin connector port at the bottom instead of

the proprietary 30-pin port “to make room for the earphone moving to the bottom”, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.”

The Reuters source makes the reason for the 19-pin dock connector even more boring — at least in the past we had been told that it was part of Apple’s

initiative to make the iPhone 5 much thinner. Now, it appears that the redesign — which will send users and the entire consumer electronics accessories

sector into a tailspin — is so that Apple can move the headphone jack to the bottom of the device. Considering how un-ergonomic that move is, we can

only hope that this is a chain-reaction move, and that the headphone jack is moving down because something really cool (like an NFC-related antenna)

will be inserted near the top of the new iPhone.

Verizon Weighs In [Again] On iPhone 5 Release Date

The second Verizon CEO in as many years has made a prediction about the iPhone 5 release date, taking a guess that it’ll be released “sometime in the

fourth quarter.” Are you impressed?

If one thing’s for sure, it’s that Verizon CEOs of late have a knack for injecting themselves into the iPhone 5 discussion, even if they have very little of

substance to say. You’ll recall that last year, then-Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams made news when in one breath he referred to the 2011 iPhone as

“iPhone 5? and then tried to argue that he “had no idea” of when it would be released. This year, Verizon’s new chief has taken the opposite approach to

making headlines: he’s predicting an iPhone release date range that the majority of the tech media has anticipated since last year: Q4 2012.

CNET reports:

“Apple’s next iteration of the iPhone could drop in the fourth quarter. That’s according to Verizon CFO Fran Shammo, who hinted at the possible timing

during the company’s quarterly conference call today with a vague reference to a major phone the carrier expects to launch in the fourth quarter. . . A

fourth-quarter launch suggests Apple may move in October, similar to its launch of the iPhone 4S last year.”

No duh.

Ever since the coming and going of the 2012 WWDC with no surprise iPhone 5 release, the safe bet has clearly been the fourth quarter of 2012,

considering that October would mark the one-year anniversary of the iPhone 4S’s announcement, Apple’s first foray into a fall iPhone launch, and the fact

that an October announcement and November release takes place within Apple’s fiscal first quarter, giving them strong earnings right out of the gate.

The only alternate theory for a Q4 release has been a few smatterings of August iPhone 5 announcements — however, considering the dearth of

production chatter for the new iPhone, that possibility seems all but impossible at this point.

So, what are we being told here that we don’t already know?

Nothing, most likely. Considering that Mr. Shammo’s comments came while addressing Verizon shareholders, his thinly-veiled hint at the iPhone 5 was

most likely an effort to assuage them, and perhaps encourage a bit of buying in order to further capitalize Verizon ahead of the new iPhone’s launch.

Perhaps a more interesting mobile network-related thread in the iPhone 5 rumor mill is whether or not T-Mobile will finally add the iPhone to its inventory

this year. However, the reason that we’ve heard little about that prospect is that all indications are that T-Mobile won’t gain the iPhone until 2013, when

we begin using the “iPhone 6” moniker to talk about a future iPhone iteration.

From Motoring Crunch:

“T-Mobile USA Inc,, the 4th largest network in the US, may use its parent company’s (Deutsche Telekom AG) sales agreement with Apple to bring to

iPhone to the US in 2013, according to Sanford C Bernstein’s Craig Moffett. Deutsche Telekom and Apple are “increasingly likely” to reach agreement for

T-Mobile to sell iPhones in the US in 2013. New York-based analyst Moffatt claims in a recent research note.”

So there you have it. It would appear that, unlike 2011, when speculation of Sprint getting the iPhone contributed consistently to iPhone speculation, we

appear to have much less to focus on this year as far as the mobile networks are concerned.

 
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