Preparations for the iPhone 6S release date this 2015, mostly on manufacturing costs, would translate to Apple (AAPL) spending over $26 billion by the end of June. The amount alone covers the tech giant's purchase commitments as of the first half of the year, a new report said.
"The commitments are to acquire components and capital assets, including product tooling and manufacturing process equipment," Apple Insider said in a new report, citing too the latest note from Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley. It is estimated that around $22 billion of the expenditure is directly connected to outsourcing contracts and purchases of components - both likely for the large-scale manufacture of upcoming devices.
For 2015, Apple is expected to refresh its banner iOS devices. Analysts are saying that the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will come out in late September while the 2014 iPads will be replaced in the following months. Bumping off the iPad Air 2 is the Air 3 while the iPad Mini 4 will succeed the Mini 3. It is also rumored that a 12.9-inch iPad Pro is in the works.
It appears that the 2015 iDevices lineup, which will be powered by iOS 9, entails a series of big launches for Apple in the last six months of the year that the company was willing to spend billions, $26.5 billion to be exact, according to Huberty.
Apple, however, seems pretty confident that the massive investment will pay off and quick. Apple Insider noted that for the September quarter this 2015, the company's revenue guidance was set to $51 billion, tops. But Huberty's projection is higher, reaching a high of $63 billion even as she noted that the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will only be available in the last few days of the month.
The next iPhone is said to rollout by middle of September.
While the iPhone 6S is regarded as an increment bump from the iPhone 6, key upgrades deployed with the device will likely trigger higher sales than last year. The device will likely be powered by the combo of A9 processing chip and 2GB of RAM. Force Touch screen sensor technology will also be part of the package, which will give more depth and functions to the iPhone touch screen rendering.
As for the iPad, a separate Apple Insider report claimed that the 7.9-inch iPad Mini 4 will largely present upgrades that mirror the iPad Air 2 of last year, including the A8 CPU and the anti-reflective screen coating. The iPad Air 3 specifications, on the other hand, will remain mostly unchanged save for the expected jump to A9 chip.
The two iPads are expected to be launched anytime within October or a few week following the rumored iPhones 6S release date in September 2015.