Long-time Apple supplier Inventec has been selected by Apple to churn out Apple's rumored Siri speaker, if supply chain reports out of China are to be believed.
In a new report published on early Wednesday by the Economic Daily News, the Taiwan-based company has garnered orders for production of the speaker, which may have already started. However, if the company is on tap for component production or assembly of the device isn't clear.
Inventec currently produces Apple's AirPods, and has been involved in the Apple product pipeline in some fashion since the iPod days. If the report is accurate, Apple's primary assembler and Amazon Echo builder Foxconn hasn't been selected to build the product.
Rumors about the device started circulating in late April. the Siri speaker will reportedly feature one woofer and seven tweeters for rich sound. It's also believed that it will be powered by a custom ARM processor equal in power to at least the A8 CPU on the iPhone 6 or newer, and have the W1 Bluetooth chip as well.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple could ship as many as 12 million units a year after launch date. If successful, Kuo believes that the line will expand, similar to what Amazon has done with the Echo.
Physical details about the enclosure were shared by prolific leaker Sonny Dickson. Dickson claimed that the speaker superficially resembled the UE Boom fused with the cylindrical Mac Pro, and will have a concave top with physical controls on top.
Kuo believes that there is a 50 percent chance that the device will make an appearance at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference, taking place June 5 through June 9. But, as of yet, no diagrams or components have been "leaked" from assembly points.