The good news is that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 8 is arguably the most highly anticipated and technologically advanced smartphone release we’ve seen in years. The bad news, though, is that if you’ve been angling to replace your current iPhone and are interested in the iPhone 8, you may have to wait a bit before upgrading.
Not only will the iPhone 8 release be delayed slightly, but quantities will reportedly be severely limited at launch due to ongoing yield issues and component shortages. As a quick example, there have been reports that the company responsible for supplying the iPhone 8’s advanced 3D camera sensors will need some time to ramp up supply to the levels Apple needs for a massive global launch.
Now comes word via a new analyst report from BlueFin Research Partners (via Barron’s) that the initial supply of iPhone 8 models on launch day will be limited to 5 million units.
“Our reads now suggest that AAPL will build only 5M iPhone X in the September quarter,” the note reads in part, “supporting the view that the OLED iPhone availability will be extremely limited initially.”
While the research note doesn’t cite any direct sources, it nonetheless relays that mass production on the iPhone 8 won’t really kick into high gear until later this year. Notably, this seems to align with other iPhone rumors we’ve seen floating around in recent weeks.
While a delayed iPhone 8 launch will undoubtedly frustrate users, it won’t have any long-term impact on Apple’s bottom line. If anything, it will simply push back a massive refresh cycle that may very well be the biggest Apple has seen yet.
Feature wise, the iPhone 8 will introduce a new edgeless OLED display along with improved battery life, faster internals, wireless charging, augmented reality features, next-gen camera sensors, facial recognition technology and more.
