Right up until the device is officially announced by Apple, we’ll all get to sift through rumor upon rumor about what the next iPhone will be. We’ve already seen rumors about “final” designs, 3D touch problems, and large volume purchases of OLED screens (among others). Now we’re starting to hear that a culmination of the problems, new hardware, and other issues is likely to lead to at least a partially delayed launch. Ming-Chi Kuo — noted Apple analyst at KGI Securities — is predicting the iPhone 8 launch in September as per usual, though the 10th Anniversary Edition will likely be in very short supply.
Kuo has been predicting Apple hardware for years, and with relatively good accuracy, so this isn’t a case of someone looking for attention with Apple rumors. Kuo feels that there will be three iPhone models this year, as has been widely rumored, with two LCD models — likely the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8+ — along with the OLED 10th Anniversary Edition. The good news is that the launch is likely to happen in September, as is Apple’s tradition, though getting your hands on a phone (particularly the rumored 10th Anniversary Edition) might be more challenging:
Production ramp up of OLED iPhone could be delayed to October-November (previously estimated to be August-September, as in previous years). That said, if new features, such as 3D sensing, can provide good user experience, a temporary supply shortfall won’t undermine actual demand, which may be deferred to 1H18. In that case, potential contribution starting late-2Q17 from OLED iPhone could be partially delayed by 3-6 months for related suppliers.
Now, the key statement there revolves around the good user experience, and demand. Apple has absolutely put out amazing hardware in the past, and there’s no doubt that demand will be high for their new products. They have, however, had some stumbles as it relates to completely new (to Apple) features and specs. If the 10th Anniversary Edition has some initial stumbles, would that be enough to temper demand for the device?
To be honest, probably not. The Apple faithful will line up just like the Samsung faithful and Nexus/Pixel faithful do every year. Kuo does see potential for delays to be detrimental to Apple as competitors release similarly spec’d full-screen devices in the intervening months though.
What do you think? Are you all-in on the 10th Anniversary Edition iPhone even if limited supply makes it especially hard to get? Would you consider looking to other phones if you can’t get the Anniversary Edition at launch? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”https://www.macrumors.com/2017/04/24/kuo-iphone-8-september-shortage/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Mac Rumors[/button]
