iPhone 5 and iPad 3 upstream suppliers begin to prepare materials
Taiwan-based companies included in the supply chain for iPhone 5 and iPad 3 have begun to prepare materials for the production of the two devices, which are likely to make their debuts in September and to hit the market in October, according to industry sources.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Taiwan supply chain has been circling this ramp all spring: in April, talks with a key supplier pointed to iPhone 5 production starting in September, even as touch panel makers said Apple had not yet released a production roadmap, and by June Taiwan makers were rushing to obtain certification from Apple for iPad 3.
Today's report is the next step in that sequence — certified suppliers now committing materials — which is why industry sources treat it as evidence the rumored September debut and October market arrival are firming up rather than slipping.
First-order effects
- Taiwan component makers are now spending on materials for two unreleased devices before any public production roadmap exists from Apple, putting their own capital at risk against the rumored September/October window.
Second-order effects
- Material pre-builds pull component capacity forward, tightening allocation for non-Apple device makers competing for the same panels, chips, and casings during the same quarter.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — certification, then material prep, then assembly on an annual fall cadence — Apple's product calendar effectively sets the fiscal rhythm for the entire Taiwan electronics supply chain.
The trend: Apple's annualized fall launch cycle is turning its supplier base into a just-in-time industrial system where upstream firms commit materials months before products are officially acknowledged.