According to two independent notes issued on Tuesday, both of Apple’s flagship iOS products for 2011 may be delayed. First, FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger claims that the next-generation iPhone may be delayed until September. “For the iPhone 5, we continue to hear that a July launch is unlikely, with various casing suppliers and touch suppliers still ramping up, with some chip vendors not having yet received firm iPhone 5 orders, and with other sockets like the image sensor (most likely going to Omnivision exclusively, but with some potential for Sony to split that socket) still in flux,” Berger wrote in a note to investors. “Given these factors, we think a September launch is more likely, off from Apple’s traditional iPhone launch schedule, but giving the firm more time to enhance its next-generation instant communications on the phone.” Berger also claims that Apple intends to build 100 million iPhone handsets during the 2011 calendar year, up from FBC’s previous estimate of 75 million.
Separately, Yuanta Securities Co. on Tuesday issued a research note suggesting Apple’s next-generation iPad, which it claims was slated for an April release, may be delayed until June. Yuanta analysts Vincent Chen and Alison Chen report that production bottlenecks caused by last minute design changes from Apple are the cause of the delay. “Our checks suggest new issues are being encountered with the new production and it is taking time to resolve them,” wrote Chen and Chen in their report. “As a number of Android 3.0 tablets are being launched in April and May, the delay in iPad 2 shipments may give the Android camp a brief window of opportunity.”
Neither report carries any firm evidence to support the claimed delays.