Misek’s mixed track record and another surprising claim of his – that Apple has already begun production of a rumored lower-cost iPhone – led us to file the report under the ‘Unlikely’ drawer.
Interestingly, Misek said that iPhone production ramp-up will follow one that’s already under way for Apple’s long-rumored lower-cost iPhone, a device he figures the company will price somewhere between $300 and $400 — without a subsidy. He estimates production plans at 25 million to 30 million units, split pretty much evenly across the 5s and its new lower-cost sibling. And he said the new entry probably won’t be competitive with the truly low-end handsets popular in emerging markets.
Another hit-and-miss source, DigiTimes, earlier today warned of production issues that could limit iPhone 5S availability at launch. The Taiwanese trade publication blamed production problems on poor yields of AuthenTec-designed fingerprint-recognition chips and LCD driver integrated circuits.
“Volume production of fingerprint-recognition and LCD driver chips for the iPhone 5S should have started at the end of June or early in July,†DigiTimes wrote.
If analysts, patent filings, watchers, PayPal and more are anything to go by, fingerprint scanning is going to be one of the defining features of the iPhone 5S.
Is Apple taking a similar tack with the smartphone market? Misek seems to think so, and it’s certainly possible, given the company’s history. And, as I’ve noted before, the opportunity for Apple here could be quite large.
