A Foxconn employee has pinned June as the target release date for the next iPhone, according to a conversation recorded by TV Tokyo.
The Foxconn recruiter says the company needs to hire an extra 18,000 workers in order to manfaucture the new device, which some analysts had suspected would be launched later in the year.
Earlier rumours had also hinted at a June-July release for the device, but some analysts had suspected that due to the late release of the iPhone 4S, Apple would release its smartphone updates towards the holiday season.
The TV Tokyo story was covering the launch of Japan Display, a company formed after three companies – Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba – merged their display divisions.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
