Rumor: Has Hon Hai scored an exclusive iPhone contract with Apple?
Is an improved iPhone around the corner? It looks that way. Dow Jones has reported that Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, Taiwan’s largest manufacturer of electronic products has snagged an exclusive contract with Apple, Inc. to make an improved iPhone. Could we see a 3G iPhone? The 3G iPhone has been requested particularly by European mobile carriers. Consumers and business users are already benefitting from commercial 3G services in 18 of the 25 European countries.
Wei Ye, a reporter for Dow Jones said…
“Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract electronics maker, plans to ship at least 10 million third-generation iPhones for Apple Inc., a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires,” Wei Yi reports for Dow Jones.
“The person, who declined to be named, said Apple will likely launch the new generation iPhone as early as the second quarter,” Yi reports. “‘Hon Hai is ready to ship anytime. It is just waiting for the nod from Apple,’ said the person.”
How soon will we see an improved iPhone? We’re not sure, some analysts say we might see one as early as May 2008. What’s interesting is in a recent note Bank of America stated that Apple is has plans to unveil a high speed wireless version of the iPhone in the second quarter.
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April 1st, 2008
[...] Cory Bohon wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIs an improved iPhone around the corner? It looks that way. Dow Jones has reported that Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, Taiwan’s largest manufacturer of electronic products has snagged an exclusive contract with Apple, … [...]
April 2nd, 2008
To say that any contract awarded to Foxconn is “exclusive” misses the reality. Hon Hai and subsidiaries employ 500,000 people. Larger suppliers to the final product include Nan Ya, Broadcom, and many others. The list of smaller suppliers to the Foxconn production of many manufacturer’s products, not just Apple’s or HP’s, is unbelievably long.
3G iPhone must wait until June 30, AT&T and Apple have an agreement about that. Hon Hai needs some ramp-up time. AT&T’s 3G network techs need that extra time too!