How did Apple keep iPhone 5 secret?

[Juan007]

It looks like we're going to get a re-designed iPhone 5, not a "4s". The real story here is how Apple kept the design secret for so long with virtually no leaks, to the point where people today even refuse to believe that Apple will announce it in a few days.

You have half the journalists in the world trying to dig up anything on iPhone 5, half the boneheads on Wall Street doing channel checks, half the Internet spreading gossip among themselves, and still nobody has anything substantial.

Whoever is in charge of Apple secret keeping should be given a job at the CIA. Seriously, do you know how hard it is to make 10 million units without any word getting out??? Just amazing.

 

[eaglesteve]

The workers on the floor is one of the weakest points as they earn low wages and would find bribe from outside difficult to resist. It is also common to find them trying to steal parts to sell. For this reason, the factory is run like a military camp. You should be able to imagine how military establishments are controlled. If you're caught, you're .... (insert your own imagination here). We may not find the management technique palatable, but I'm not sure if there is any better alternative. Remember we're talking about 1.3 million workers in China alone.

 

[Dandrews524]

everyone in the factories work naked like in 'New Jack City'

 

[ap3604]

The workers on the floor is one of the weakest points as they earn low wages and would find bribe from outside difficult to resist. It is also common to find them trying to steal parts to sell. For this reason, the factory is run like a military camp. You should be able to imagine how military establishments are controlled. If you're caught, you're .... (insert your own imagination here). We may not find the management technique palatable, but I'm not sure if there is any better alternative.

Yeah. It's pretty easy to keep things under wraps with a military camp like Foxconn. All you need are 3 things:

- A full body suit that all workers need to wear before stepping on the work floor and take off before leaving the work area (a barrier in order to prevent them from putting parts in their clothing)

- A **** ton of cameras EVERYWHERE
- Enough people watching the cameras

Hell... Amazon just did the same thing with their highly anticipated tablet with no leaks whatsoever.

 

[Juan007]

The secrecy at the factory is just part of the story... what's most amazing is how you order 10 million+ 4.3 inch displays without anyone noticing.

BTW I have been to a certain Foxconn factory in mainland China (not one where iPhones are made) and conditions aren't terrible. I'd say conditions were quite good compared to the factory of another ODM that I will not name here...

And there's a huge difference between Apple and Amazon when it comes to rumors. Nobody gives a crap what Amazon will release next month, but half the world wants to know what Apple is coming out with.

 

[Frenchjay]

Yeah. It's pretty easy to keep things under wraps with a military camp like Foxconn. All you need are 3 things:

- A full body suit that all workers need to wear before stepping on the work floor and take off before leaving the work area (a barrier in order to prevent them from putting parts in their clothing)

- A **** ton of cameras Cameras EVERYWHERE
- Enough people watching the cameras

Hell... Amazon just did the same thing with their highly anticipated tablet with no leaks whatsoever.

I agree with this totally. What I find more difficult to believe is journalists have not got anything solid so far. Maybe they have but with a plethora of rumours flying round sometimes it's difficult to invest belief in them. I truly believe Apple has just done very well to keep it under wraps. They have learnt there lesson from the IPhone 4.

 

[eaglesteve]

And there's a huge difference between Apple and Amazon when it comes to rumors. Nobody gives a crap what Amazon will release next month, but half the world wants to know what Apple is coming out with.

Agree. In fact most non-apple product seem to beg the press to give them publicity before the launch. Remember how the CEO of Nokia demonstrated a model of his phone to the reporters and told them its extremely important that they don't leak it? The next thing the reporters did was to keep taking the photos and showed the world how that looked like, and the CEO made no genuine effort to stop it?

Aother thing Foxconn does is to put through many prototypes, some even with hardware keyboard, so as to confuse the workers. This is in the early stages of course.

 

[ap3604]

Nobody gives a crap what Amazon will release next month, but half the world wants to know what Apple is coming out with.

Maybe you don't use Amazon but that doesn't mean its not the largest online retailer in the world. So I'm guessing a lot of people care what tablet Amazon is releasing.

Talk about an over-exaggerated statement killing your argument...

 

[saving107]

And there's a huge difference between Apple and Amazon when it comes to rumors. Nobody gives a crap what Amazon will release next month, but half the world wants to know what Apple is coming out with.

I give a crap, I was genuinely excited about what Amazon was going to release this week, so much so that after the order page went live I ordered myself a new Kindle touch and a Kindle fire.

I have an iPad 2, an HP touchpad and soon the Kindle Fire.

I love Apple as much as the next guy, but I keep an open mind to other products.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Maybe Apple hasn't kept it a secret but we didn't realize it.

Remember the iPhone 4 leak? Atleast on these boards, people went NUTS. They thought it was simple impossible that Apple would have a brick glass front/back phone. Nearly everyone thought it was a chinese knockoff.

Had it not had the controversy surrounding Apple wanting it back, it may have been forgotten and dismissed as just another hack.

We'll know on the 4th which rumor was truth, and I'm sure it'll surprise us all.

 

[ap3604]

I give a crap, I was genuinely excited about what Amazon was going to release this week, so much so that after the order page went live I ordered myself a new Kindle touch and a Kindle fire.

I have an iPad 2, an HP touchpad and soon the Kindle Fire.

I love Apple as much as the next guy, but I keep an open mind to other products.

Agreed saving107

Not sure why he exaggerated like he did but saying "no one cares about Amazon" is like saying no one cares about Samsung, HTC, Motorola, etc...

There are other brands out there besides Apple

 

[Harvey Specter]

Apple hired comex

 

[AIP5]

How did they keep it a secret?

With the help of hawk-eyed lawyers, Chinese police, and the threat of jail. Those working conditions are really brutal. I've seen similar factories in Africa, and the workers are hand searched randomly on the spot, and every time they leave/enter the factory.

(Also, remember what happened to the 2 Chinese factory workers and the blogger who paid them for iPad 2 design secrets?)

 

[bushman4]

Apple has kept this secret better than secrets that the government has tried to keep.
Unless the people working on the IPHONE5 don't realize its new as it looks so much like the 4. Hopefully that's not the case.

 

[Ramio]

The secrecy at the factory is just part of the story... what's most amazing is how you order 10 million+ 4.3 inch displays without anyone noticing.

BTW I have been to a certain Foxconn factory in mainland China (not one where iPhones are made) and conditions aren't terrible. I'd say conditions were quite good compared to the factory of another ODM that I will not name here...

And there's a huge difference between Apple and Amazon when it comes to rumors. Nobody gives a crap what Amazon will release next month, but half the world wants to know what Apple is coming out with.

Exactly!. I had no idea Amazon was releasing anything until I saw it being discussed a few days before here. It's not an exaggerated statement either. The iphone is a billion times bigger than anything Amazon produces.

 

[saving107]

Exactly!. I had no idea Amazon was releasing anything until I saw it being discussed a few days before here.

You mean no one on an Apple related website/forum was discussion an Amazon tablet,
shocking. But you know who was discussing it, everyone else.

April 20th, 2011 - gdgt
http://gdgt.com/question/amazon-s-tablet-is-coming-but-what-will-it-be-d07/

May 23rd, 2011 - Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/23/amazons-android-tablet-coming-in-10-and-7-inch-models-with-qua/

July 13th, 2011 - WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303406104576444213058153874.html?ru=yahoo&mod=yahoo_hs

July 13th, 2011 - PC World
http://www.pcworld.com/article/235699/report_amazon_tablet_set_to_battle_ipad_in_fall.html

Sept 2nd, 2011 - Thisismynext
http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/02/amazon-kindle-tablet-250-7-inches-android-based-november/

Sept 2nd, 2011 - Tech Crunch
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/02/amazon-kindle-tablet/

Sept 2nd, 2011 - TUAW
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/09/02/techcrunch-reveals-the-amazon-kindle-tablet/

These are just some of the many articles these websites published related to a possible Amazon tablet being developed.

 

[eaglesteve]

It's relative. I think the interest on Amazon product is nowhere near that on iPhone at all, going by the number of news feed items that I clear each day on my google reader client. I think the OP was speaking in a figurative sense and does not literally mean nobody at all is interested in non-iPhone products. But let's not go too far out of topic.

 

[Apple OC]

How did Apple keep iPhone 5 secret?

they had help from the "Caramilk Guys"

 

[Eso]

You mean no one on an Apple related website/forum was discussion an Amazon tablet,
shocking. But you know who was discussing it, everyone else.

That's similar to the reason that most people around here believe in the '4S' instead of the '5' - MacRumors has been extremely biased in favor of any story related to the the silly iPhone '4S'.

 

[saving107]

That's similar to the reason that most people around here believe in the '4S' instead of the '5' - MacRumors has been extremely biased in favor of any story related to the the silly iPhone '4S'.

That is true, even if it contradicted a story that had been published just a few hours prior.

 

[eaglesteve]

That is true, even if it contradicted a story that had been published just a few hours prior.

Contradicting information is another way to keep secret. Perhaps it would not be unreasonable for Apple to sow misinformation themselves in order to hide the secret? Just guessing.

 

[Ramio]

You mean no one on an Apple related website/forum was discussion an Amazon tablet,
shocking. But you know who was discussing it, everyone else.

April 20th, 2011 - gdgt
http://gdgt.com/question/amazon-s-tablet-is-coming-but-what-will-it-be-d07/

May 23rd, 2011 - Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/23/amazons-android-tablet-coming-in-10-and-7-inch-models-with-qua/

July 13th, 2011 - WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303406104576444213058153874.html?ru=yahoo&mod=yahoo_hs

July 13th, 2011 - PC World
http://www.pcworld.com/article/235699/report_amazon_tablet_set_to_battle_ipad_in_fall.html

Sept 2nd, 2011 - Thisismynext
http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/02/amazon-kindle-tablet-250-7-inches-android-based-november/

Sept 2nd, 2011 - Tech Crunch
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/02/amazon-kindle-tablet/

Sept 2nd, 2011 - TUAW
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/09/02/techcrunch-reveals-the-amazon-kindle-tablet/

These are just some of the many articles these websites published related to a possible Amazon tablet being developed.

Come on, you are comparing the Amazon tablet to the iphone. The Iphone is a worldwide event. Amazon isn't. Go see how many news articles you can find on both the iphone and Amazon tablet. For every Amazon news article, you will find hundreds of iphone articles. Go to the forums and see how many Amazon tablet/iphone posts you see. If people were half as interested in the Amazon tablet, info would have leaked but nah, people don't care enough about the Amazon tablet. Maybe a few care about the Amazon tablet, the majority of people care about the iphone and hence a new thread on the iphone in this forum shows up every minute. I haven't seen that with the Amazon tablet.

 

[saving107]

On the surface tech companies are all about secrecy and things like non-disclosure agreements, but the reality is that they leak information all the time. And don’t think that information always comes from disgruntled employees–these are often “controlled leaks”. They’ll send information to one publication but not others, they’ll give an earlier embargo time to a select news outlet, they anonymously (and sometimes not anonymously) seed information… it’s all part of the game.

http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/how-apple-leaks-information-2010016/

This is why I have my doubts when I read Apple related news from WSJ or NYTimes.

 

[gta50419]

who knows. apple got their stuff right this time

 

[charliecc]

While I kind of agree with this thread, I'd have to say that part of why it's been a "secret" is because so many people are looking into it.

I know that sounds contradictory but hear me out.

As you say, there are analysts, journalists, us etc, all putting out loads of information. IF it turns out that there is an iPhone 5 and it has the form factor we expect, then they didn't keep it a secret so well did they, hell every case manufacturer this side of Beijing has an iPhone 5 case.

However, because there are so many people putting out rumours, so called "expert analysts" completely contradicting each other, then we are left totally baffled. So rather than a lack of information/leaks, I'd say we're in the dark because of too much and too varied information.

If Apple come out with the iPhone 5, half the people on here will say, told you so we knew this all along. If Apple come out with a 4S, half the people on here will say, told you so we knew this all along. If Apple come out with a completely new design for the 5, different from anything we've seen, then I'll be mighty impressed.