iPhone 6 may be hitting the street sooner than we thought

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was long thought to be planning release of the iPhone 6 in September of 2014, but new production news today suggests that the smartphone may witness an earlier than usual launch onto the retail market. One key indicator is that Pegatron, an important Apple supplier in China, is increasing both its factory space and workforce steeply, with manufacture of the iPhone 6 slated to begin before the end of the second quarter of this year. This news was reported today in Taiwan’s Commercial Times.

Such early production could indicate a launch as early as June, July, or August, which would be extraordinarily soon by Apple’s (AAPL) usual production schedule. Some analysts have speculated that this could be planned so that the iWatch can be released in September, keeping the two major product releases separated in time to maximize purchases of each. There is no direct support for this idea, however, and it is simply one more piece of random speculation in a field where each “expert” attempts to blindly second-guess the tight-mouthed Cupertino enterprise.

Another hint that the iPhone 6 may burst on the scene earlier than would be traditional is the increased production of iPhone displays by AU Optronics (AUO) of Taiwan, also reported today. AUO had been making iPad displays, but the latest news indicates that manufacture of these components has been handed back to Samsung. The Taiwanese company’s entire production capacity is being switched over to iPhone displays.

A second company is also being enlisted to handle assembly of this year’s crop of iPhones. Hon Hai is not exactly a household word in the United States, but it will be working alongside Pegatron to carry out final assembly of units, probably due to the high volume planned.

These maneuvers come at a time when Apple Inc. (AAPL) has ordered an unprecedented quantity of iPhones from its partners. 90 million units are planned to be produced during 2014, a number that a lost doubles the 51 million iPhone 5s sold during 2013. It is believed that the extra production will be sold mainly in China, where Apple smartphones are experiencing an explosive spread after contracts were signed between the U.S. firm and several enormous Chinese telecommunications companies.

Only time will tell if the iPhone 6 appears early, and whether the huge production that is planned arrives in one wave or two. Clearly, however, something unusual is occurring, with manufacture starting earlier than for any other smartphone release in the company’s history and extraordinary numbers contracted for manufacture.