New iPhone Production Underway

Apple has begun producing its updated iPhone that is expected to be shown at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Taiwan’s Commercial Times newspaper on Wednesday cited “component suppliers” who said that local companies have begun to ship parts needed to assemble the new iPhones. The report didn’t specify which components were shipping, but we do know that OmniVision is shipping 3.2 megapixel cameras to Apple to be used in the new iphone.

Strangely, the sources also claimed that as many as 3 million “old and new” iPhones would ship in the quarter after the new cell phone’s introduction. Apple typically ceases production of old models of any product when it starts up new production and usually has enough goods in the supply channel to continue sales until a new model is released.

A different analyst report, however, paints a different picture. Kaufman Bros. researcher Shaw Wu claimed the same day to have heard that Apple will build between 5 million and 6 million all-new iPhones during the summer, or a significant step up from spring estimates.

There is expected to be two different iPhone models. One is expected to have a longer-lived battery and a faster processor, while another would be a basic iPhone meant to appeal on cost. Additionally, he maintained that AT&T is considering tiered data plans that would let customers scale back their service to bring down the minimum subscription from its current $70 per month.

While these production numbers are more consistent with Apple’s recent sales performance, recent analyst reports from Wu have had a very mixed track record. Earlier this year, one investors’ note inaccurately posited that Apple would introduce both dual- and quad-core iMacs with its next update, though he has occasionally proved more accurate than others in some instances.