SoftBank president Ken Miyauchi’s joking remarks during Monday’s quarterly earnings presentation implied the 2019 iPhone will hit store shelves on September 20. The date does fall into Apple’s typical iPhone release timeline.
The meeting saw Miyauchi queried about Japan’s revised Telecommunications Business Law, scheduled to go into effect on October 1. A reporter asked about the company’s plans to manage the launch of the new iPhone, which is expected to launch sometime during September.
While mobile carriers currently bundle data device fees together on user contracts, as the carriers charge higher data prices to make up for the subsidies they offer on devices like the iPhone, the new law will modify that process. Carriers will be required to separate data and device charges.
Softbank has announced that it already abides by the new rules laid out in the new statutes.
“I’m honestly thinking about what I should do for about ten days,” Miyauchi said, referring to iPhone’s supposed launch and the revised law. “Excuse me, I shouldn’t say that. Nobody knows when the new iPhone will be released […] When it is, it will be unbundled for at least 10 days. After that, it will be part of a bundle.”
Apple typically announces new iPhones at a Tuesday or Wednesday media event in September, opening pre-orders the following Friday, for shipments a week later. So, while a date hasn’t yet been officially announced for Apple’s 2019 iPhone shindig, Miyauchi’s implied timeline makes sense. Sept. 20 is a Friday this time around, meaning an Apple announcement during the week of Sept. 9 makes sense.
Apple is expected to unveil successors to the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max later this year.
