14 DAY TRIAL // Citing a foreign brokerage, a Taiwanese paper says Apple is on track to giving Pegatron most of the manufacturing orders for the iPhone 6S next year. Unlike other recent reports about the handset, this one says nothing about a potential release in spring.
The European brokerage specifically said in a note to clients on Monday, “For the next product cycle, iPhone 6S, likely out in September 2015, we believe for the first time in the iPhone history, Pegatron will become the main source for assembly, with more than 50 percent of the 4.7-inch allocation [...] there is also a small possibility that Pegatron will win the 5.5-inch model as well, but this remains to be seen.”
Foxconn stands to lose some money
It isn’t clear exactly where this information is coming from, but word on the street in Taiwan is that Apple is changing its outsourcing strategy. The assembly process of any iPhone is extremely difficult, and manufacturers tend to lose money in the first two years, until their yield rates improve, according to the sources.
Pegatron, despite being overshadowed by Foxconn most of the times, is actually still a primary supplier for Apple. Whenever Foxconn can’t deliver, Pegatron is always up next, ready to fill any gap left by Terry Gou’s massive electronics manufacturing facilities.
While the future looks bright for Pegatron, Foxconn on the other hand likely stands to lose some serious cash next year. Currently, the Taiwanese manufacturing group handles as much as 70% of all iPhone 6 orders.
Release date and pricing
A recent (and very unlikely rumor) said that Apple planned to deploy the iPhone 6S in spring, to spur sales of the Apple Watch. The argument was that customers would somehow be tempted to buy both, but whoever came up with that theory forgot to factor in the high prices associated with Apple gadgets.
Speaking of which, the iPhone 6S isn’t expected to cost any more or any less than the iPhone 6 currently does today. Nor is it expected to come in different storage options or colors, though it wouldn’t be unheard of.
As far as the release date is concerned, despite the aforementioned rumor (which we hardly believe even made the news), there’s a 99.99% chance Apple will make no amendments to its existing refresh cycle (or its business model implicitly) and that the iPhone 6S will be deployed in the fall period in 2015.
