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'iPhone 8' Still Expected to Launch in September in Limited Quantities

Thursday March 23, 2017 7:56 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's widely rumored high-end iPhone with a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED display will launch in September, although the majority of stock may not be available until later in the fourth quarter, according to the latest research from Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis, Christopher Hemmelgarn, Thomas O'Malley, and Jerry Zhang.

"iPhone X" concept by designer Gabor Balogh

The prediction suggests that Apple's tenth-anniversary iPhone, which has been variously dubbed the iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone Pro, or iPhone Edition, will still be available in limited quantities in September. However, shipping estimates could slip to several weeks out just minutes after pre-orders begin.


An excerpt from the Barclays research note obtained by MacRumors:
Suppliers generally had good things to say about the upcoming iPhone 8 launch (for our purposes iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, and iPhone Pro) as new features drive a more complicated manufacturing process and higher ASPs. We now believe that all three devices will feature wireless charging and will all be launched in the normal September timeframe, although the majority of iPhone Pro volumes may not be available until Q4.
Barclays contradicts a recent report that claimed the 5.8-inch iPhone will be announced alongside updated 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models, or the so-called iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, but might not go on sale until much later.

By the sounds of it, availability of Apple's first iPhone with an OLED display could be similar to the iPhone 7 Plus in Jet Black, which was virtually nowhere to be found through the holiday shopping season last year. When an Apple Store or reseller happened to get a few Jet Black models in stock, they sold out almost instantly.

The analysts, citing information from Apple's supply chain following a trip to Asia earlier this month, also reiterated their expectations for the 5.8-inch iPhone. Many of its predictions echo those already made by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a respectable track record at revealing Apple's plans.

Barclays said the phone will feature a 5.8-inch display with 5.15 inches of usable screen, as Kuo said. It expects Touch ID to be embedded in the display, and the remaining space could be for virtual buttons. It believes the device will have wireless charging, but wireless charging accessories will be sold separately.

It said the 5.8-inch iPhone's stacked logic board design will provide more space for a larger battery and other components, as Kuo previously said. Other features Barclays expects include a front-facing 3D sensor module, the same dual camera setup as the iPhone 7 Plus, and a film-based Force Touch solution.

Related Roundup: iPhone X
Tag: Barclays
[ 208 comments ]


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macslayer118
31 months ago
Every year. This article is the same every year.
Rating: 33 Votes
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keysofanxiety
31 months ago

Apple does this build hype every year. Make a few to make you want it more.


And people say this every year, that Apple hold off on stock to artificially inflate demand. It's ridiculous. The truth is much simpler; they're very desirable phones and Apple can't make them quick enough.
Rating: 18 Votes
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MrGimper
31 months ago
"Edition" is such a stupid name for product in the way Apple use it. iPhone Edition, Apple Watch Edition, etc. Makes more sense if named iPhone Pro Edition, iPhone Anniversary Edition or Apple Watch Ceramic Edition. Just using product name and "Edition" just doesn't work.
Rating: 13 Votes
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keysofanxiety
31 months ago

That logic just completely baffles me. While the the manufacturers very well might not be able to crank them out quick enough, if Apple really wanted to solve this problem, they could. Supplies have been "constrained" for 10 years now.


Apple sold 10 million iPhone 6 devices in the first weekend. Even more for the 6S.

Just go on sales for the first 6 months and the shipping numbers would show you that they'll have to crank about 800,000 phones out a day. That's an awful lot. If you're talking about logic, do the maths and you'll see it's pretty obvious.

Apple don't artificially inflate demand. The demand is very real.
Rating: 13 Votes
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dominiongamma
31 months ago
Apple does this build hype every year. Make a few to make you want it more.
Rating: 13 Votes
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avanpelt
31 months ago
Tim 'supply chain expert' Cook strikes again! I'll go ahead and give him the benefit of the doubt that perhaps the "iPhone 8" is so revolutionary that only very few manufacturers can produce it to Apple's exacting standards, thus lowering the amount of product that can be produced.

Well, it's either that or they're purposely doing this to inflate the demand. Not sure which.
Rating: 10 Votes
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69Mustang
31 months ago

And people say this every year, that Apple hold off on stock to artificially inflate demand. It's ridiculous. The truth is much simpler; they're very desirable phones and Apple can't make them quick enough.

I agree the conspiracy rhetoric is slightly silly, but it has a hint of truth in it. Apple can't underestimate their sales every year. That's just not possible (a bit of hyperbole, yes). At some point someone, somewhere, somehow would question: How do we end up supply constrained every year?

How is it you figure Apple can't make phones quick enough? Mis-identifying the right mix of product? I get that. Simply not being able to make enough? Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. Especially, every single year.
Rating: 8 Votes
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zrherda88
31 months ago

That logic just completely baffles me. While the the manufacturers very well might not be able to crank them out quick enough, if Apple really wanted to solve this problem, they could. Supplies have been "constrained" for 10 years now.



I comment on this article every time it comes up with the same response. Apple isn't artificially inflating demand with a limited supply, it really is that hard to produce the amount of phones needed for launch day.

I work in logistics and we primarily deal with the United States and a few other countries and we have a hard enough time getting everything where we need it to be. I cannot imagine the headache that Apple deals with to supply millions of phones to thousands of different locations in multiple countries.

The other big issue I am guessing they run into is that we don't know the exact timeline of final design approval. My best guess would be that they do not approve the final design until around April or May. They then ramp up production June-September to get enough stock to provide launch day stock.

This is incredibly difficult to do and the sheer number of phones and parts required is astronomical. Trust me, Apple would much rather have enough supply to satisfy every customer on launch day versus turning away customers. I know people on this site want to believe otherwise, but there is only so many phones that can be produced per day and it requires a tremendous effort to get it done. Not to mention that if they are using new vendors or materials that they aren't used to using will make it even harder.
Rating: 8 Votes
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arggg14
31 months ago

The truth is much simpler; they're very desirable phones and Apple can't make them quick enough.


That logic just completely baffles me. While the the manufacturers very well might not be able to crank them out quick enough, if Apple really wanted to solve this problem, they could. Supplies have been "constrained" for 10 years now.
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
keysofanxiety
31 months ago

Of course the demand is real. My point is the most valuable tech brand is the world should be able to solve this problem if they wanted to.


An incredibly simplified argument: Apple are rich as heck, so anything should be possible. Pray tell. How on Earth would they do that if they're manufacturing nearly 1 million phones daily with really expensive materials and complex manufacturing processes?

Foxconn are one of the main plants for a reason. Other plants will struggle with the processes or QA will suffer. More people will complain Apple are getting worse.

When you're shipping nearly a million units a day to keep up with demand, especially ones built to such exacting tolerances, you can't just casually say that this 'problem' can be solved in a blink, as if there's something obvious that Tim Cook is missing. I'm dumbfounded that you think it's so black and white.
Rating: 7 Votes

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