Rising Sapphire Display Cost May Limit Production of 5.5-Inch iPhone 6

[Constable Odo]

Oh, boy. Corning must be behind these rumors. Absolutely anything is possible. I guess it's possible Apple/G.T. Advanced may have difficulty keeping up with sapphire demand but after how many tens of millions of devices. I suppose it all depends on the yields but how could some Chinese site possibly know such a thing as Apple's sapphire yields in relation to needed components. That's pure speculation at best. Why is that we never get rumors about other companies' component shortages? I'm willing to bet many companies must have component shortages from time to time.

 

[mangonights]

"Supply chain sources" is probably the biggest idiot to come this way in a while. The whole point of Apple mass manufacturing their own sapphire screens is that they can make it cheaper than anyone else. It's the whole strategy. It gives them an edge nobody else can match unless they're willing to make the same manufacturing investment. This is a common strategy for Apple, to dominate a production segment like they did back in the day when they would buy-out all the flash ram supply.

 

[furi0usbee]

Good laughs in the morning. I paid full price for my 5 no contract in US. Now, if they think I'm going to pay $1k for a phone, well, I guess I'll going to the cheap, plastic route with Samsung. This report is BS. Costly sapphire? I first heard they couldn't make enough. Now it's too costly? And Apple has a partnership with a wait... sapphire company?

Maybe the rumors are true of Apple talking to carriers about a $100 price bump. But adding several more hundred on top of that... pure rubbish.

 

[brdeveloper]

Good laughs in the morning. I paid full price for my 5 no contract in US. Now, if they think I'm going to pay $1k for a phone, well, I guess I'll going to the cheap, plastic route with Samsung. This report is BS. Costly sapphire? I first heard they couldn't make enough. Now it's too costly? And Apple has a partnership with a wait... sapphire company?

Maybe the rumors are true of Apple talking to carriers about a $100 price bump. But adding several more hundred on top of that... pure rubbish.

iPhone is only cheap in US and a couple of low-tax countries. In most of the world, iPhone price is already priced at USD 1k. In most countries, a new iPhone at $1,5k would be a status symbol and would sell a lot because of this.

 

[Rogifan]

Not with THAT OS it isn't

Heh. But seriously, go back to 2011 and we had all kinds of iPhone 5 rumors which turned out to be completely off the mark. I have a feeling we're hearing about delays on a mythical device because said device doesn't exist. But rather than admitting they were wrong, the supply chain rumor mill sources will keep saying it's delayed instead.

 

[AppleHater]

This rumor makes no sense. Apple won't spend $280 on any part including the glass.

 

[MacVista]

My 2 year iPhone has no scratches at all because I take good care of it.
Not everyone needs or wants sapphire glass.
Apple, why not offer a Gorilla glass version of the iPhone6 and shave $200 off?

 

[doelcm82]

Now hear this: There is a rumor that the previous rumor is unreliable. Please take the previous rumor with a grain of salt.

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My 2 year iPhone has no scratches at all because I take good care of it.
Not everyone needs or wants sapphire glass.
Apple, why not offer a Gorilla glass version of the iPhone6 and shave $200 off?

There is a rumor that Apple plans to do exactly that.
Unfortunately, there is a rumor that Apple plans to do the opposite.
Why can't Apple manage the random rumors better? Is Apple losing its touch? Steve would have never allowed speculation.

 

[gnasher729]

I highly doubt that the costs are that huge, considering that there are Casio watches with sapphire glass for <70€. Of course, the amount of sapphire needed for an iPhone is way higher. But still, so are their economies of scale.

There were articles for example on theregister when rumours about Apple and Sapphire displays came out first. According to them, sapphire displays are expensive because not many products use sapphire displays, and not many products use sapphire displays because they are expensive. And, the important part, one company with loads of cash and a serious desire to use tons of these displays could pay for a massive increase of production and then have massively reduced per-item prices. Say ten times the production for twice the cost. And that's what Apple has done.

But because Apple invested massively, one of the biggest manufacturers is now working exclusively for Apple, which means the total output for everyone else has dropped, and you would prices to increase for everyone else. Like when the first iPods were introduced, and tiny Toshiba 5GB hard drives sold for more money than iPods with tiny Toshiba 5GB hard drives inside.

 

[evosgames]

even if the iphone costs $500 on 2 year old contract, people will still buy it.

That is so sad, yet so true..
Not me though. Im always a model behind. When a new model comes out people for the most part disown the last model like a bad habbit. So I like getting them at that 99 dollar or even free price point

 

[mdridwan47]

I'm not getting the new iPad without sapphire.

 

[newdeal]

Sounds like they are pricing it based on buying from a 3rd party but apple is basically making the sapphire themselves in huge quantities. I am sure this is to combat the cost issue as only apple and samsung could do at this point by increasing the scale of production

 

[sbrhwkp3]

They just won't do it, it's far to much of a jump in component cost for the benefit of what apple would see.

Providing a stronger glass does what for Apple? Are there millions of people never buying an iPhone again because the screen smashed?

It's not a big enough selling point to warrant that sort of price increase.

Sapphire has nothing to do with the screen shattering, and everything to do with scratches.

 

[gnasher729]

"This extra expense could increase the retail price of the next generation iPhone by approximately 50 percent."

That's way to expensive for a phone. In the UK, if the 16GB version remains that would mean it would cost around £825! Would still buy it though

So what do you think is more likely: Apple trying to sell iPhones for £825 in the UK, or some random analyst writing nonsense? There is plenty of precedence for analysts writing nonsense. There is much less precedence for Apple killing their products through absurd pricing.

 

[Rick2030]

Isn't sapphire crystal usually used for watches. Is this not the most likely purpose? Therefor the costs would be a fraction of this amount as watch faces tend to be small.

 

[TypeEE]

Do you mean, just because one part is pricy, so apple will make less? Do you mean apple only allocate X dollars to make 5.5" iphone, when production cost goes up, they will make less quantity? Sounds stupid to me.

 

[SMIDG3T]

So what do you think is more likely: Apple trying to sell iPhones for £825 in the UK, or some random analyst writing nonsense? There is plenty of precedence for analysts writing nonsense. There is much less precedence for Apple killing their products through absurd pricing.

Yes, I agree, the latter is much more likely but you never know!

 

[samcraig]

Heh. But seriously, go back to 2011 and we had all kinds of iPhone 5 rumors which turned out to be completely off the mark. I have a feeling we're hearing about delays on a mythical device because said device doesn't exist. But rather than admitting they were wrong, the supply chain rumor mill sources will keep saying it's delayed instead.

Can we both go on record for saying that we predict there will be a 5.5" iPhone delay due to a new part being fabricated known only by its code name R5JX32c. It appears as those the yield for this part hasn't met Apple's requirements. No word on who is producing this part but it's possible that it's a joint effort between liquid metal, samsung, tsmc and corning.

 

[newyorksole]

Oh PLEASE . They were not coming out with a 5.5" in the first place .

 

[Ashkin1194]

There is really very little benefit of switching to sapphire screens from gorilla glass. The benefit of gorilla glass is that its shatter-resistant, but relatively scratch-prone. Sapphire is opposite: scratch-resistant and shatter-prone. I for one would take a dozen scratches over a shattered screen; gorilla glass for me.

 

[mattintoshmac]

I'll tell you what'll limit the production of a 5.5" iPhone model - there ISN'T going to be one.

Raising your hopes for an imaginary product, based on imagining that product into reality may feel nice in your head, but for a product to be sold, it has to physically be made, and I express very strong doubts that Apple are going to be the ones seen to release another surfboard phone. Just because Android vendors produce clown-sized phones, doesn't mean that Apple - the company with their OWN timeline and who aren't rushed or pressured into product ideas by outside influences - are going to make something equally sized, just because the mainstream thinks it's a good trend to follow. Making a certain sized phone "just because everyone else does it" is not good business sense.

Apple don't follow the trends, they forge them and *others* follow. Huge phones are huge and stupid looking (buyers will never admit this - it's called pride, something people hate admitting to, as the [perceived] "usefulness" of the large screen, to them, outweighs the clumsy, ugly stupidity of holding an ironing board-sized device to your face), and Apple aren't planning to make a fool of themselves just because X, Y and Z vendor copied Samsung and their inane ideas to create more SKU codes.

In case you missed it @ D11, Tim Cook stated clearly "We don't make the most, we make the best". A huge device may be popular, but consumers DO NOT know how to articulate, clearly, what they want, and will tolerate some shortcomings if the few benefits outweigh them for a period of time... but do you want customers to ADORE your product, or "tolerate" it?

 

[576316]

Over 50%?! So instead of paying £500 for a 16GB iPhone we'll be paying over £750?! Haha, no way. I'm not paying that for a phone. Apple need to find a way to keep current pricing. I'd rather this magical 5.5" version didn't exist (although I'd quite like it to) than pay that price.

 

[jrswizzle]

There is reliable speculation that the Sapphire is not a cover glass at all but rather a substrate for new LED display technology. I honestly don't see an advantage in replacing Gorila Glass with Sapphire so this seems plausible.

Except that Gorilla Glass sucks...scratches, the oleophobic coating wears and screens still break from some seemingly innocent falls.

I think gorilla glass is probably one of the most overrated products out there. Thing is, they've cornered the market. Looking forward to Apple getting something new out there - though I don't think they'll do so until costs come down. I still think the iWatch will be the first product to have a sapphire display.

 

[2457282]

No it does not. Supply chain constraints and increased costs are two very different things.

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Even if they manufacture it themselves, there still is a cost associated with the component. Apparently, those costs are too high.

I suspect that Apple is investing in the Arizona plant specifically because it believes it can bring the cost down to something more reasonable. This may be a stretch, but I could also see Apple absorb some of the cost (reducing profit) in the short term as it perfects the process and lowers manufacturing cost. I think this only because this would be something to separate it from the likes of Samsung and something that would be hard to copy at reasonable cost.

 

[gnasher729]

Isn't sapphire crystal usually used for watches. Is this not the most likely purpose? Therefor the costs would be a fraction of this amount as watch faces tend to be small.

Currently sapphire crystal is used mostly for watches, because it is expensive. But Apple has made a massive investment in the technology to drive the price down, most likely to make it affordable for a phone-sized screen. Since there is one major plant not selling to the open market anymore, prices for everyone else may be climbing, but not for Apple. Quite the opposite.