Apple’s iPhone 12 production aims at October 13 launch – report

Not an iPhone factory

Apple’s iPhone partners have begun 24/7 mass production of the soon-to-debut iPhone 12 range, with reports some have cancelled all holiday leave and introducing bonuses to keep workers on the line.

Production hits overdrive

Chinese media reports that Foxconn’s iPhone line in Zhengzhou is working 24-hours each day.

The company is discouraging staff holidays, introducing overtime and rewarding staff loyalty with better bonuses, including a $1,466 bonus for staff who work for at least 55 days in the 90 days following September 18.

These reports also claim the new devices will be shipped to distributors worldwide from October 5, one week before Apple announces the new range on October 13.

What this means

News that Apple’s supply chain is kicking into overdrive in order to get iPhones into distribution as quickly as possible suggests the company is attempting to make up for a slightly late product launch by getting stock into the shops as quickly as possible after announcement.

In a sense it must – its Q4 sales are always buoyed by iPhone, and with coronavirus, U.S. elections and recession looming, the sooner it gets those devices into shops, the better.

The company is expected to introduce four iPhone 12 models, including a 5.4-inch ‘iPhone mini’, two 6.1-inch and a 6.7-inch model all with OLED displays and 5G. Storage options include 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models.

Apple’s first shipment of final iPhone 12 units is going out to distributers on October 5th

The shipment includes:

iPhone 12 mini 5.4
(Definitely the final marketing name)
-64/128/256

iPhone 12 6.1
-64/128/256

Event on October 13, as I mentioned before.

— jon prosser (@jon_prosser) September 29, 2020

The one caveat to this news? Apple is not expected to introduce them all at once but to stagger the release over a few weeks.

Expect to see those Apple event invites arrive around a week before the event takes place.

NB: Apple shipped 45.1 million iPhones in Q2, up 25% on last year even as global smartphone sales fell 14%. Meanwhile, the premium smartphone market remains flat pending introduction of the new 5G devices.

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