Signs are certainly pointing to a June release, but hey, it could just be wishful thinking on the part of those of us that are ‘not so patiently’ waiting for it. iPhone 5 has been a long wait, and Apple’s attempt to pacify its users with the iPhone 4S was a temporary distraction at most. So, now you may wonder though what signs are causing this June release talk? Well, I’m glad you asked.
Signs, Signs, Everywhere There’s A Sign and If You Know Chinese This Sign May be For You
In that last few days, weeks and months we have had some fairly interesting happenings in the Apple iPhone world to cause such thoughts. Let’s start backward and move forward, shall we? Just 2 months ago in April the cleverly captured conversation between a Japanese factory worker and a Chinese questioner (how his counterpart is referred to) about his factories need to hire nearly 20,000 new workers for the release of iPhone 5 in June.
Is this report reliable? Accurate? Who knows? All we do know for sure is this factory worker worked for Foxconn factory and was caught on video having a discussion about the upcoming need for employees due to an iPhone 5 June release, or so we’re told by a television report that is in Chinese, Japanese and finally Englishnese (no such thing I know, but it rhymes so I gave it a go). Translated by a Japanese technology blog, it may or may not be what they were talking about. However, there doesn’t appear to be much in question as to its truthfulness or translation accuracy, the questionable part is simply that it cannot be verified because as usual, Apple’s clammed up.
Some things that point to its being true is that Foxconn is a factory in China that is responsible for making the iPhone or at least most of its components. Something else that helps bolster this overheard or overseen video, is the fact that just a few days ago, on May 16th to be exact, the Wall Street Journal reported that on June 1st Apple will begin factory production of their new 4-inch displays for its sixth generation iPhone, aka iPhone 5. Although the name isn’t locked in by confirmation, most think it shall be called iPhone 5 based on Apple claiming the iPhone5.com domain name.
Want More? You Got it:
That’s not it though as for signs of early release…okay that sounds bad, but you know we’re talking about the iPhone 5 right? Other really recent signs have happened in the last week, in which we have seen a few stores putting iPhone on sale. No biggie, they go on sale at times. However, in just the last day or two we see a whole new onslaught of sales for the iPhone 4S, and 3GS is free, that is if you can find it in stock. Even more recently we see as of yesterday, the 17th of May, some of the larger mobile services are joining into the selling craze. You can now get the iPhone 4S for as little as $49 from Best Buy. Other big markdowns are now at Sprint, Verizon, Target, and Radio Shack.
It’s only speculation of course, but it sure seems like shelves are being emptied in order to prepare for new merchandise, i.e. iPhone 5. The sales began as early as May 7th and most appear to be running through June 30th. This is not just speculation by cyber world minds, this rapid onset of iPhone 4S sales has also triggered analysts to suggest that Apple is cleaning stock for the 2012 generation. Of course, this could all just point to an early start for a still fall release.
More signs you say? Wow, you’re hard to convince! Well, I will give it a try, but this one isn’t much of a sign I guess, it’s more of another speculation, one based on past history; with the exception of last year as past history that is. Ever since iPhone first came out it had been released at Apple’s WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) event in June of each year. Last year was a first with the 4S coming in October not June. So, you can see how one may consider that at Apple’s 2012 WWDC event in San Francisco would be a perfect place to announce the long awaited reveal of iPhone 5. The conference begins on June 11th and runs through the 15th.
Good News for Sprint?
If it is released sometime in June timing couldn’t be better for Sprint. Since they signed their billion dollar contract with Apple in the fall of 2011, there has been a lot of talk about if they could handle such a deal. Because of the newness of Sprint to the iPhone market and already troubled sales, their chief executive Dan Hesse has been struggling to keep his leadership. So what did Mr. Hesse do to help sway fears among his board members? He took a pay cut, not much, just $3.25 million. Not to worry too much though, he still has a little money left after his 21% cut in pay. His salary for 2012 was to be a total package of $15.6 million, so remove a few mill and it appears he may barely avoid having to live on the streets or in the backseat of one of his BMW’s. Of course that’s speculation too, well the part that he owns a BMW anyway. His strategy appears to have worked though since two days ago the board voted him back in for another year. So, yeah, Sprint needs all the help they can get and a June release would sure be helpful. Especially since Sprint says they won’t see any profits on their deal until 2015.
What’s the Final Conclusion as to Dates?
With all this spec talk we are not much nearer to a real known date. We could still just be looking at a slightly earlier fall release. Some say it may be September instead of October, which all these signs could easily be a sign of. Factories beginning production on June 1st, could they have enough done by the WWDC event on the 11th? Perhaps so, or perhaps it is again for later in the summer or fall. Shelves emptying now of the iPhone 4S could just be an early start to prepare for fall. So much speculation, so little fact. All we can do is wait, just as we’ve all been doing since the mention of an iPhone 5 nearly two years ago. For those that have been holding out, what’s another month or three? We’ve waited this long, and not long ago we were waiting without even knowing for sure if there would be such a thing as iPhone 5. Well, that part is now for sure, not the name per-say but the new iPhone is a definite go.
