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Apple plans to hold a media event September 9, when it’s likely to launch the iPhone 6, according to a new report.
Recode, which often has accurate information about Apple launch dates and other news, pegged the event to that September date, but didn’t give any other information. Other reports have recently speculated that Apple wouldn’t introduce its newest smartphones until October, which would be later than its recent strategy.
Apple has added a new iPhone every year since former CEO Steve Jobs introduced the smartphone line in 2007. New iPhones have been unveiled in September since 2011.
Apple declined to comment.
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Many market watchers expect Apple to introduce two new iPhone 6 models with display sizes of 4.7 and 5.5 inches, though some recent reports speculate one device could be released at a later date. Apple, has asked manufacturing partners to produce 70 million to 80 million units of its larger screen iPhones by December 30, The Wall Street Journal reported last month. That’s up from its initial order of 50 million to 60 million units of the iPhone 5S and 5C, the paper said.
Apple’s results have been fueled by the iPhone for the past several years, with the company generating about half of its revenue from the smartphone. But Apple is facing more competition than ever before. Samsung and others are pressuring the company at the high end, while Apple is largely missing out on the low end of the market. That’s a big concern as more and more mobile sales come from emerging markets like China, where inexpensive phones from companies such as Huawei and ZTE are popular.
So far, though, Apple’s customers have remained loyal, and it’s attracting buyers despite offering devices that are almost a year old. In April, Apple said it had nearly 800 million iTunes accounts, a number that CEO Tim Cook described at that time as “staggering.” About a year earlier, Apple announced it had 575 million accounts. And Apple last month said it sold 35.2 million iPhones in its fiscal third quarter ended in June, up from 31.2 million in the year-ago period. The continued strength of the iPhone represents an anomaly at a time when the smartphone business is maturing and there is a noticeable lack of excitement in the area.
Updated at 12:25 p.m. PT with Apple declining to comment.
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