A new supply chain report by DigiTimes claims shipments of the upcoming 2018 iPhone lineup will be the highest since the iPhone 6 lineup. The numbers will greatly benefit the fourth quarter bottom line of chip producer TSMC and assembly partner Foxconn.
Apple is slated to release three new iPhone devices soon, including two OLED models (5.8-inch and 6.5 inch) and a 6.1-inch LCD model. The impressive upgrades in overall designs and functions as well as the price-friendliness of the 6.1-inch model should give the new devices a shipment momentum much stronger than their two preceding generations, the sources said.
In addition to TSMC and Foxconn, other supply chain partners are also expected to benefit from an increase in Q4 revenue.
Among them, TSMC, which has landed all the 7nm foundry orders for A12 application processor chips for the new iPhone devices, has seen its revenues pick up starting in July, offsetting a significant revenue contraction ensuing from the sharp decreases in orders for crypto mining ASICs from China’s Bitmain and Canaan Creative. The foundry is also expected to fully recover in the fourth quarter from a virus infection’s impact on its third-quarter sales performance in August, allowing the company to maintain a higher single-digit growth for its 2018 revenues.
Production of the iPhone is expected to be “smooth,” with few manufacturing challenges to deal with, other than volume.
Foxconn’s July revenues are believed to have hit a new high, due to volume production of the new iPhone models. It’s revenue growth is expected to continue through the rest of the year.