A recent note to investors from Shaw Wu, an analyst from Sterne Agee, indicated that iPhone orders were decreased by around 35 percent by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). This reportedly gave some indications that the company may be in preparation for the upcoming iPhone 5 of the company. The iPhone 5 is likely to be released sometime in September or October according to Wu and Apple is apparently being more conservative with its suppliers for the current iPhone.
Shipments are expected to go down from around 35 million during the March quarter to around 28 million, which is lower compared to the Wall Street projection of around 31 million units. The channel inventory of the iPhone is also around 8.6 million with around 2.6 million coming in from the latest quarter which would allow the company to balance out its supply with the demand for around six weeks.
iPhone 5
The recent reduction also allows the suppliers to make preparations for the upcoming iPhone 5. A similar reduction was also noted with the iPhone 4 prior to the release of the predecessor of the iPhone 5, the iPhone 4S
In contrast to the supposed preparation for the iPhone 5, an increase in the shipments of the iPad was noted by industry watchers. The supply of the new iPad was limited mainly due to the limited supply of the retina display of the tablet. However with the addition of another supplier, Apple will be able to meet the demand for its latest tablet offering in the market.
Even as the iPhone 5 is expected to be released into the market in the third quarter, Apple has yet to make an official statement on the possible launch of its next generation iPhone into the market.
For the moment most of the reports on the upcoming iPhone 5 are mainly speculations until Apple will officially launch the device into the market.
