Supply chain to start shipping new iPhones at the end of 3Q16
Aaron Lee, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Tuesday 17 May 2016]
The upstream supply chain is expected to begin shipping Apple's upcoming next-generation iPhone
products at the end of the third quarter. A new 4.7-inch iPhone will be handled by Pegatron Technology
and Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry), while the new 5.5-inch model will be made by
Wistron and Foxconn, according to sources from the upstream supply chain. The ODMs all declined
to comment on their orders.
Apple has been separating its component orders to multiple suppliers to lower risks, and the vendor
currently has at least two suppliers for components such as batteries, hinges and chassis.
Wistron was a manufacturer of Apple's iPhone 5c and has already prepared sufficient capacity for the
next-generation iPhone orders; however, the sources believe Wistron's yield rate will become a key
factor influencing the company's profitability from the orders.
Wistron chairman Simon Lin recently said the company had a 5% revenue growth in 2015, but its
operating profits and net profits dropped dramatically in the year due to weak demand for notebooks
and LCD TVs.
For 2016, Wistron has been strengthening its PC, server and smartphone businesses and will accelerate
its pace in new businesses such as display components, recycling, medical services and education
technology. Since Wistron has already shrunk and stopped some of its businesses that seeing in
losses, the company's profits are expected to improve significantly in 2016.
Sources said that Wistron's notebook shipments are expected to stay flat or drop slightly on year in 2016,
but its server shipments are expected to grow in the second half thanks to increasing orders from US-based
clients. With orders from Apple's new iPhone, Wistron is expected to perform much stronger in the second
half than the first.
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