Apple To Begin Trial Production Of iPhone 5S soon, says China’s Commercial Times Paper – Next-Gen iPad To Come Mid-year

Digitimes’ Steve Shen reports that Apple is expected to begin trial production of a new version of its iPhone 5, or iPhone 5S, in December with initial production volumes likely to top 50,000-100,000 units, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

Shen says that due to low yield rates in the production of iPhone 5, Apple has accelerated the certification processes for related parts and components for the iPhone 5S, which is is expected to enter volume production in the first quarter of 2013 the paper revealed, also projecting that Apple is also likely to release a new version of iPad a quarter later than the iPhone 5S.

Apple Suppliers To Enjoy Particularly Strong 1Q13 – Next-Gen iPad And iPhone To Come Mid-year

Digitimes’ Ingrid Lee and Jessie Shen say that Apple’s suppliers, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and packager Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) which have entered the vendor’s supply chain, are all expected to report particularly strong results for the first quarter of 2013, according to market observers.

Lee and Shen also note that Apple is expected to introduce its next-generation iPad and iPhone series around the middle of 2013, which means component orders placed by Apple, which climbed to high levels prior to the iPhone 5 rollout, will rise again between March and April.