DigiTimes: Spring 2020 iPhone production ramping up
- feb
- 13
The new budget iPhone will "incorporate mostly the same components as adopted for iPhone 8".
What you need to know
- 3-4 semiconductor manufacturers are said to be gearing up to fulfill shipments for Apple's new iPhone.
- The "tentatively dubbed" iPhone SE 2/iPhone 9 is pegged for an announcement in March.
- It's said to be based on mostly the same components as the iPhone 8.
A report today states that 3-4 semiconductor manufacturers are gearing up to fulfill shipments of components for Apple's spring iPhone, the iPhone SE2/iPhone 9.
As reported by DigiTimes:
Taiwan-based compound semiconductor components makers are gearing up to fulfill shipments of PA (power amplifier), RF (radio frequency) and VCSEl devices for a new iPhone model, tentatively dubbed SE2, with their order visibility for the new device increasingly strengthened despite uncertainties about the coronavirus outbreak, according to industry sources.
The sources said iPhone SE2, an entry-level LCD model supposed to be launched in the first half of 2020, will incorporate mostly the same components as adopted for iPhone 8. As US IDMs such as Qorvo and Avago are among suppliers of RF and PA components for the new model, their Taiwanese epi-wafer foundry partners Win Semiconductors, Visual Photonics Epitaxy (VPEC) and Advanced Wireless Semiconductor (AWSC) will indirectly tap into the supply chain of iPhone SE2, the sources said.
The report also states that Win Semi will be the sole fabricator of VCSEL components for the new time-of-flight cameras, which it says are "expected to be incorporated into 5G iPhones and iPads to be released in the second half of 2020." This would seem to suggest that Apple may be planning to release a new iPad Pro in the second half of 2020, perhaps alongside the iPhone 12
Many separate reports have dubbed Apple's touted spring, budget iPhone as either the iPhone 9 or the iPhone SE 2. As this report notes, it is based roughly on the iPhone 8 and is expected to enter the market with a price-point of $399, making it the "spiritual" successor of the iPhone SE 2 as Apple's budget iPhone. In terms of its component base and form factor however, it will reportedly look quite similar to the iPhone 8, and include a Home Button with Touch ID.