Apple will ship iPhones starting September 5

Despite these problems, Apple’s plans don’t appear to have greatly suffered, the company’s partners announcing the start of production for the next generation of iPhone in July. The final product will be delivered two months later.

Rumors say that the new smartphone will have a faster processor, but will look almost exactly like the current iPhone 4. The present model uses a camera produced by Largan Precision Co. Ltd, a touchscreen panel from Wintek Corp. and housing produced by Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd.

Components for the iPhone 5 will be submitted by suppliers for final assembly to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd, a unit of Foxconn Technology Group, during the month of July or early August.

iPhone products account for over one third of the sales made by Apple, with over 16 million phones sold in the last half of last year.

Apple iPhone 4 was launched in June 2010 and deliveries were started that month. iPhone 5 will arrive in less than a year later, a reason for more enthusiasm from the fans.

It remains to see how Apple will manage to keep pace with the high demand expected for the iPhone 5, given that the parts supply problems could limit production. If Apple fails to overcome all difficulties, reduced availability could encourage speculation and some stores are likely to push prices for the iPhone 5 to a level well above the one recommended by Apple.