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iPhone 5 Release Date: October, Says Foxconn HR Guy

Another day, another rumor about the upcoming iPhone. What’s particularly interesting about this one is where it comes from, as well as the fact that a similar source said something completely d...
iPhone 5 Release Date: October, Says Foxconn HR Guy
Written by Josh Wolford
  • Another day, another rumor about the upcoming iPhone. What’s particularly interesting about this one is where it comes from, as well as the fact that a similar source said something completely different just last week. Thus is the nature of iPhone rumors, however. It’s only April and I think I’ve already run out of salt.

    The lastest rumor comes to us from Apple product manufacturer Foxconn. Based on a report in the South Korean “Maeil Business Newspaper” (Google Translated version), Apple’s new iPhone (iPhone 5, new iPhone, new new iPhone – who knows?) will launch in October.

    The paper asked the head of Human Resources at Foxconn’s Taiyuan factory about the device, to which he replied, “We just got the order. It [the release] will be around October.” When asked again about the specific release date, he once again said it would hit some time “around October.”

    If you follow the saga that is speculative iPhone release rumors, you’ll know that this sounds odd considering that we heard just last week that the new phone would be hitting the shelves much sooner – in June. That date was given to us by none other than a Foxconn recruiter, who slipped the June release date into a recored interview regarding the company’s recruiting initiative.

    That wasn’t the first time we’ve heard June as a possible release date.

    The June theory hinges upon the belief that Apple will be holding their annual Worldwide Developers Conference during that month. Previous new versions of the iPhone have been announced at that conference.

    But not last year. The iPhone 4S announcement was pushed back to October, and the headlining new product at WWDC 2011 was iOS 5.

    An October release date for the new iPhone would make sense, as it would give Apple that important one year window between versions of the same product. Plus, with a significant redesign expected for the new iPhone, releasing it only 9 or so months after an incremental update like the iPhone 4S might really piss off everyone that bought that device in October.

    But, as the world turns, new iPhone rumors will pop up from every corner of the globe. This one was just particularly interesting: sources related to the same company giving vastly different responses within a week of each other – nothing could be more indicative of the madness of the iPhone rumor season.

    [h/t/ Kotaku]

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