Apple’s Fifth-Generation iPhone to Begin Assembly in “Mid to Late August”

According to Katy Huberty, an analyst with brokerage firm Morgan Stanley, Apple’s manufacturing partners will begin assembling the next generation of iPhone handsets in August, ahead of a projected launch late in the third calendar quarter, which ends September 30.

After attending meetings with unnamed sources in Taiwan, Huberty issued a note to her clients stating that “Apple’s next iPhone will begin production in mid-to-late August and ramp aggressively”, indicating that the iPhone 4S (or iPhone 5, as the handset is yet unnamed) will be ready to ship for launch in September. Huberty confirmed this timeline, stating that according to her sources the handset will launch to consumers “sometime near the end of the third calendar quarter of the year”.

Rumors have swirled for months around the release date for the next iPhone, and most have pointed to the handset getting out the door sometime in September. As a result of this launch being later than Morgan Stanley had originally advised, Huberty moved the expected sales of 2 million iPhone handsets from third quarter estimates to the fourth quarter while keeping expected annual sales firm at 72 million iPhones. Of course, the analyst stated that if she were incorrect and the next iPhone was to launch earlier in September, it would simply drive “upside” to these estimates.

Also in the report were suggestions that an Apple-branded television was being developed, as is an iPhone that is intended for lower-priced and prepaid markets. “We also believe Apple is in the early design stages for a TV, which could add $19 billion and $4.50 of annual revenue and EPS longer-term,” Huberty states, updating her March 2011 report that some of her intelligence checking in Asia had suggested that Apple was developing a “Smart TV prototype” of some sort. This is on top of speculation that has been circulating throughout the past couple of weeks that Apple has been developing a television that runs its mobile iOS software, apparently leaked by an ex-Apple executive.

In regards a cheaper iPhone, the report stated that Apple is expecting to see a huge increase to iPhone sales figures in 2012 thanks to “new products and potentially lower price points.” It’s no secret that Apple has been working on ways to improve their market segmentation, and could easily make an updated iPhone 4 model their new prepaid or value option if the iPhone 5 is another industry leader.

With increased iPhone production, rumors of TVs and a holiday season fast approaching, it would be amiss to neglect mentioning the iPad as well. Morgan Stanley states that they see iPad shipments resuming to full steam, now that the supply problems associated with the Japan earthquake earlier this year have been mostly solved. Earlier this month a report surfaced indicating that Apple was demanding a price cut of somewhere around ten percent from its iPad parts suppliers as their orders increase, which Huberty echoed could “boost margins modestly in the June quarter and more in the September quarter”.

While Apple’s stock price has been sagging of late, dropping more than six percent throughout June, Morgan Stanley sees this as an opportunity to get in while the price is low. The brokerage kept its Overweight rating for AAPL, targeting a stock price of $428, which is more than $100 per share higher than the price today. If these rumors end up being true, Apple very well might see its stock increasing throughout the remainder of the year.