A report says that Apple’s suppliers should be enjoying a particularly strong 1st Quarter of 2013. The reason? New iPad and iPhone products “around the middle of 2013”.
Apple is expected to introduce its next-generation iPad and iPhone series around the middle of 2013, which will boost demand for ICs in particular communications related chips during the latter half of the first quarter, according to the observers. Component orders placed by Apple, which climbed to high levels prior to the iPhone 5 rollout, will rise again between March and April, the observers indicated.
Digitimes makes the “middle of 2013” claim despite Apple’s recent run of offering fall releases of the iPhone and recently the iPad. The iPhone 5 and iPad 4 launched this year in September and October, respectively.
The alleged release time frame is somewhat consistent with a report that said Apple is starting trial production of the iPhone 5S with a target of early 2013 for volume production.
Digitimes has had a spotty record with its previous reports, with basically an equal share of hits and misses.
It does make some sense that Apple may be moving to an earlier timeframe for iPhone and iPad releases, as it would leave the company enough time to gear up production for holiday sales. We’ll keep an eye on this story and let you know as we hear more.
