The iPhone 6 will reportedly go into production this month, according to recent reports.
Rumors have said the Apple smartphone will come out in September. Apple is planning 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models.
The Taiwan-based Economic Daily News reported that Hon Hai Precision Industry, or Foxconn, will start mass producing the 4.7-inch phone in the third week of July.
Meanwhile, production for the 5.5-inch phone, dubbed a “phablet,” will start in the second week of August.
The report didn’t give specific dates for the start of production. It also didn’t say exactly when the phone will come out.
It was earlier reported that Foxconn will hire about 100,000 workers for the task in China.
The news comes after an announcement that Apple is teaming up with former nemesis IBM in an attempt to sell more iPhones and iPads to corporate customers and government agencies.
The partnership announced Tuesday calls for the two technology companies to work together on about 100 different mobile applications designed for a wide range of industries.
The applications, expected to be released this fall, will feature some of data-crunching tools that IBM Corp. sells to companies trying to get a better grasp on their main markets while scouring for new money-making opportunities.
IBM is also pledging to provide better security to reassure companies concerned about hackers stealing vital information off the mobile devices of employees doing less of their work on desktop and laptop computers.
Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook said his company is turning to help from IBM because it doesn’t understand the needs of corporate customers as well as it does consumers. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty said the alliance will help her company by widening the audience for its technological tools, providing bigger returns on the roughly $24 billion that IBM has invested in data analytics.
“It’s a watershed partnership that brings together the best of Apple and the best of IBM,” Cook said Tuesday during an interview at Apple’s Cupertino, California headquarters. Underscoring the importance of the alliance, Rometty flew from IBM’s Armonk, New York headquarters to join Cook for the announcement.
“This is about two powerhouses unleashing the power of mobility for (businesses),” Rometty said. “This is going to remake professions and industries.”
By joining forces, Apple and IBM are hoping to build mobile applications that prove iPhones and iPads can serve many other business purposes besides checking email and keeping track of appointments. Cook says the devices are already used for work within all but a handful of Fortune 500 companies.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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