Foxconn Exec Says New iPhone Launching In October

Last week a Foxconn recruiter thought he knew what he was talking about and told a reporter that Apple’s next iPhone is launching in June. However, he probably only knew as much as we do, and was just making an assumption based off Foxconn’s drive to hire 18,000 employees.

Interestingly, another employee inside of Foxconn would like to disagree with his co-worker. The head of human resources at Foxconn’s Taiyuan factory told reporters in an interview that the new iPhone is launching in October.

South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper was told by the head of human resources regarding the new iPhone: “We just got the order. It [the release] will be around October.”

The paper also questioned Foxconn about the recent hiring notices going around the city of Taiyuan. The mouthy Foxconn employee said, “Yes, it’s true we are hiring a large number of workers.” This may indicate the new iPhone will be assembled in Taiyuan. An October release for the new iPhone sounds much more likely than a June date, as previously mentioned.

Last year, Apple announced the iPhone 4S at an event in October, rather than at its normal WWDC date. This year I think iOS 6 will be introduced at WWDC, while the new iPhone (and perhaps iPod touches) will be announced at a special event this fall.

Should we take what a Foxconn employee says as direct word from Apple? Certainly not. But it is pretty interesting that an executive is saying October. When do you think Apple will introduce its new iPhone?

[via Kotaku]

Comment »