Next iPhone may be delayed due to Qualcomm supply constraints

It was recently reported that Apple would be using a liquid metal exterior on the upcoming iPhone and at the time it was mentioned that the flagship smartphone from Apple would be unveiled by June. This bit of information again threw in question as to when the iPhone would be released. Apple, last year released the iPhone 4S in October and this release date strayed away from their original June time frame. However, as per a recent report by MacRumors, analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray has said that the next iPhone would be unveiled by October. This prediction is based on the statements made by the Qualcomm CEO and CFO to Reuters.

Next Apple flagship coming by October?

As per the Reuters report, Chief Executive Paul Jacobs of Qualcomm told analysts that at this stage they cannot secure enough supply to meet the increasing demand they are experiencing. Also commenting on the shortages, Chief Financial Officer Bill Keitel said, “Demand went so far ahead of availability that we've decided to start spending more money to get more supply as soon as possible. Any time we can't make a customer totally happy I'm going to worry. You don't want to give a customer a reason to go elsewhere.”

It is widely believed that in their upcoming iPhone Apple will use Qualcomm's 28-nm MDM9615 modem chip that supports LTE connectivity and voice services. This SoC appears to be one of those that are in short supply. Speaking on this Gene Munster has said, “QCOM will likely support an Apple iPhone launch in October. Based on our checks, we believe the design win momentum of QCOM's 28nm products has been exceptionally strong and a 28nm LTE baseband is likely designed into the next iPhone. QCOM's supply issue likely pushes the launch of the iPhone to October. Based on the increased capital spending this year from TSMC and QCOM's efforts over the last quarter to port its 28nm designs to UMC and probably Global Foundries, we think QCOM will have the capacity to support a Q4 LTE iPhone 5 launch. Moreover, the slow wireless infrastructure spending in 1H:12 is also likely a result of the lack of availability of a low power 28nm LTE baseband modem.”

Apple has a tendency of keeping a year’s gap before unveiling their new product. The next iPhone is believed to feature an all new design as well as LTE capabilities. However, with the launch of the next Galaxy just around the corner, Apple may tend to lose a fair amount of the market share if they do unveil it at a later date.

Let us know when you think the next iPhone will be unveiled.