Apple to Begin Producing New, Bigger iPhones Next Month, Report Says

(Image: Associated Press)

Apple’s suppliers will begin producing larger versions of the iPhone in China next month, Bloomberg reported citing sources.

Apple is ramping up production of iPhones with 4.7 and 5.5-inch screen sizes, which may be shipped to retailers around September, the report said.

The current iPhone, the iPhone 5s, features a 4.0-inch screen, measured from corner to corner. That’s a far smaller display than competing smartphones from Samsung, whose Galaxy S5 has a 5.1-inch display. Analysts have prodded Apple to produce an iPhone with a larger screen: Surveys have shown increasing desire for bigger smartphone displays, especially in the developing nations where Apple can grow its business.

Apple usually launches new versions of the smartphone line that drives half its business around the fall of every year. Many Apple-watchers expect the next iPhone, or iPhones, to arrive in September or October of this year.

Mockups of the iPhone 6, from the tech site MacRumors

Tech blogger Sonny Dickson’s iPhone 6 mockup shows the 4.7-inch phone next to the 4.0-inch iPhone 5s and the 3.5-inch iPhone 4s.

The industry has speculated for some time now that Apple intends to design and sell a device with a larger screen, to fend off Samsung phones with much bigger displays that have proven popular in Asia and elsewhere.

Hon Hai Precision Industry will recruit over 100,000 people in mainland China to produce the newest iPhone from Apple, Taiwan’s Economic Daily News reported on Monday, in what the report called the firm’s largest single hiring spree in China.

Fellow Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron Corp will also expand its workforce in one mainland factory by 30 percent, in response to expected high demand for the new iPhone.

Apple was not immediately available for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.