There’s been “some indication” Apple plans to put the iPhone 8 into production earlier than usual.
The revelation comes from BlueFin Research Partners which believes Apple will ramp up production in June – earlier than usual.
Does this mean we’ll be seeing the iPhone 8 arrive early? It’s highly unlikely, and is probably only intended to assist Apple in meeting the numbers for a device expected to elicit significant demand.
The analysis says:
“The most intriguing data points that we have uncovered suggests that AAPL is ramping the next generation iPhones earlier than historical norms, although we have no indication that there has been any change in release plans for the iPhone 8/X. Builds have been pulled in a few months while aggregate next generation forecasts have increased 10% from last month to 122M. Additionally, AAPL has adjusted iPhone 7, 7 Plus, and SE production downward in preparation for the next generation launch.”
The iPhone 8 is expected to prove significantly popular, eliciting the kind of sales Apple hasn’t seen since the iPhone 6 introduced two new screen sizes in 2014. It’s also the tenth anniversary of the device and will likely feature some significant new features like wireless charging and OLED screens.
The report continues:
“Interestingly, our present reads suggest a 300% increase in iPhone 8/X builds in the June quarter, now sitting at 9M. As a result, overall June quarter builds have increased from 45M to 48M, with the sharp increase in iPhone 8 offset somewhat by modest declines in legacy models.”
It goes on to say that in the past builds of upcoming releases “began in earnest early in the September quarter, so this is a departure from AAPL’s normal build cadence.”
Apple recently posted its best quarterly revenue figures in its entire history, selling 78 million iPhones and expanding service revenue across the board.