Yield rates for the production of iPhone 5 in the supply chain appear to have improved recently, as Apple has shortened the standby period for pre-sale orders in the US and Europe to within one week, from the previous four weeks, and will begin to sell the smartphone in Taiwan and China on December 14, according to industry sources.

Some international wireless chipset suppliers have also claimed that pull-in orders from Apple are increasing and that sales of the iPhone 5 are expected to top 45 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, higher the previous conservative estimate of 40 million units.

Since some chipset suppliers have revealed that their sales are likely to reach the ceilings of their fourth-quarter guidance, there should be no problem for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to also reach its sales target of NT$131 billion (US$4.5 billion) set for the quarter, the sources noted.

Taiwan-based IC backend service providers including Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), Adentec and STATS ChipPAC are also expected to perform better than expected in the fourth quarter, buoyed by orders from chipset vendors, said the sources.

However, with demand in the end market expected to teeter into a slow season in the first quarter of 2013, Apple's demand for parts and components may plunge over 20% sequentially in the quarter, the sources warned.

By: DocMemory
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