iPhone 6 Rumors: 4.8-inch 'Phablet' Delayed Until 2014 Due to Display Issues As It Scales Back iPhone 5 Production, Says Analyst

Apple is reportedly scaling back its iPhone 5 production as it prepares for the next series of the iPhone.

Jefferies & Co.'s Analyst Peter Misek stated Apple is cutting back production of the iPhone as suppliers prep for the iPhone 5S in March, however, it is the successor of the iPhone 5S that Misek noted that is already facing difficulties.

According to Misek, plans for a 4.8-inch screen iPhone 6 are potentially in the works. A release date for the sixth iPhone series could be in 2014 but if Apple wants to push for an earlier date, then October is likely.

"We believe a summer CY14 launch was originally planned, but Apple tried to accelerate it to stem its market share losses," Misek stated. "The earliest Apple could have launched a 4.8-inch phone would have been this fall (with a target of Oct.); however, our checks indicate that Apple's suppliers are running into difficulties trying to scale the screen size from 4-inch to 4.8-inch."

The Jefferies analyst also opined on the expectations of the iPhone 6, "We think Apple will reap some GM improvements from the little-changed iPhone 5S, but we expect the iPhone 6 to have a pricier app processor (mainly due to the TSM transition) and display (due to poor 4.8-inch in-cell yields) combined with limited NAND price declines (due to industry consolidation, Moore Stress, and price-inelasticity), which will lead to a 200bp+ headwind for the iPhone GM."

The same report by Misek noted that sales of the iPhone are "decelerating faster than expected." As a result of the sales, Misek stated Apple has cut its iPhone 5 orders from 40 million to 30 million units.

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