iPhone 5S, cheaper iPhone and new iPad mini reportedly delayed

As per a recent report by Mac Rumours, Apple is facing a lot of challenges in producing its forthcoming line-ups and these challenges may delay the launch of the new iPhone and iPad mini models.

The website is quoting KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who till a month ago was expecting Apple to launch a new iPhone model by June or July. However, on Thursday he came out with a new research report that cites the company may not be as busy as he had earlier predicted.

Earlier we estimated that shipments of the new iPhone would begin in July (FDD version) and September (TDD version), while iPad mini 2 would hit the market in August. Currently, market consensus for shipments of iPhone 5S, low-cost iPhone and iPad mini 2 is July, July, and August, respectively. But in light of publicly available information and our knowledge of technological trends, we now think all three products will begin shipments later than our previous expectation and market consensus.

Ming-Chi Kuo in his research note has not shared any specific time frame by when Apple may launch its new iPhone, the low cost iPhone or the new iPad mini Furthermore, Mac rumours via KGI Securities notes that Apple is currently facing three major challenges that is causing the delay. The first being production difficulties for the 'retina display for iPad mini'. Kuo believes that the next generation iPad will come with a Retina display, and the company is facing various and technical challenges related to its design and manufacturing.

The second challenge is being cited as 'colour coatings for lower-cost iPhone'. As per Kuo, the economically priced iPhone is likely to come with plastic shell, which will be available in numerous colour options. He opines that Apple is finding it difficult to keep the plastic shell of this iPhone as thin as it would like.

Lastly, Kuo notes that Apple is finding it challenging to manufacture iPhone 5S because of its purported fingerprint sensor. He further states that finding the right colour coatings to prevent interference with the sensor is proving to be a big challenge.

This news report by Mac Rumours comes a day after DigiTimes reported that Apple will be commencing production of its fifth generation iPad in July or August. DigiTimes news report was based on the information that the website had garnered from its sources in the Taiwan-based supply chain.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty has released a report, in which she predicted that Apple will launch the new iPhone in September 2013 after previewing the iOS 7 in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). This is in contradiction to what we had heard days earlier, when a report indicated Apple will launch the iPhone 5S in August in more than two colour options.