14 DAY TRIAL // A sketchy report from Taiwan’s hit-and-miss site DigiTimes says Pegatron is now the key manufacturer of Apple’s next-generation iPhone and another (presumably fourth-generation) iPad tablet, leaving Foxconn with orders for a smaller 7-inch version.
Citing the usually ambiguous supply chain makers based in Taiwan, the trade publication reports that Pegatron Technology has landed orders for Apple’s new-generation iPhone with plans to ship consumption-ready units in September.
There’s more. The same sources reportedly informed that “a 10-inch iPad [is] to be launched in the fourth quarter,” adding that Pegatron is currently an OEM for the iPhone 4S and the latest version of the iPad.
Pegatron is said to have already “finished expanding its equipment and labor force for Apple's orders,” the sources reportedly informed, adding that Pegatron has “decided to downsize its SI motherboard department and to shift resources to Apple's orders,” presumably because of their high priority.
The sources reportedly noted that, “Since Asustek has been reducing its motherboard orders to Pegatron, while gross margins are also rather low, the shifting in resources is expected to benefit Pegatron in its operations.”
Apple released its third-generation iPad two months ago. Not only is a fourth-generation iPad extremely unlikely in Q4 2012, but DigiTimes further reports that “a 7-inch iPad, which reportedly will be released in August, will be manufactured by Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry).”
The iPhone 5 info may pan out, but Apple releasing as many as two new tablets way ahead of the established annual refresh cycle is pretty far-fetched.
Plus, there has been some good indication in the past three years that Apple doesn’t want anything to do with screens in the 7-8-inch range.
While there is an offset chance Apple will refresh its iPad a bit earlier than expected, having three different versions rolled out in less than seven months doesn’t seem very likely.