Morgan Stanley analyst says that the Apple iPhone 5 will be assembled in mid to late August

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty told clients on Sunday that the new Apple iPhone 5 will start to be assembled in mid to late August with production "ramping aggressively" in the calendar fourth quarter. Last week, Huberty was in Taiwan, meeting with the vendors that comprise the supply chain for the Apple iPhone. After meeting the companies. she expects a late Q3 release for the next generation Apple touchscreen phone, although she does not mention if it will be LTE enabled.

Because the next iPhone will be released later than usual, Huberty shifted 2 million units of production from the third quarter to the fourth quarter but has left the total amount of 72 million iPhones produced for the year unchanged. The analyst noted that she would raise her production forecasts for the year if Apple releases the iPhone 5 in early September. A September release for the phone dovetails with earlier reports from an anonymous source, and from information picked up by hackers LulzSec.

Huberty says that Apple might be toying with the idea of releasing a lower priced Apple iPhone and an Apple-branded television set. She said that Apple is expecting an increase in iPhone production in 2012 because of, "... new products and potentially lower price points." She said that an Apple T.V. could bring in an amazing $19 billion in earnings and raise earnings per share by $4.50 for a 12 month period, in the long term. Reports earlier this week from an unnamed Apple executive said that the company is working on a smart iOS powered television prototype, something the analyst discovered from her supply checks back in March.

source: AppleInsider