According to the words of human resources executive at one of Foxconn’s plants in Taiyuan, Apple has already placed an order for the next-generation iPhone, which is expected to arrive around October. A local publication spoke with the official because the factory has posted a number of hiring notices lately. The employee corroborated that the facility is seeking to hire as many workers as possible as it is gearing up for the sixth iPhone launch.
The next handset has been generally rumored to debut in the fall of 2012, which would be one year after Apple released the iPhone 4S. Its launch was unique, since it marked the switch to the fall release schedule. Previously, new iPhone models got off the production line in June or July.
One February tip argued that the company plans to adhere to the new timetable for the near future. Apple launched the iPhone 4S around the time of its annual iPod event. Now representing a considerably smaller part of the company’s business, the media player has been pushed into the background last fall.
Launching an iPhone update just before the holiday buying season turned out to be a successful move. During the December quarter, Apple set a new record in iPhone sales, which reached 37 million. That was 128% unit growth over the 2010 holiday period.
However, the report doesn’t line up with a tip from another Foxconn employee who claimed last week that Apple could release the sixth iPhone in June. That person argued that the Taiyuan plant was gearing up to build the sixth iPhone much sooner by hiring 18,000 workers.
