While well-known Apple partner Foxconn will probably be assembling the bulk of this fall's iPhones, some of them will be built by one of its smaller partners, Wistron, a report claimed on Wednesday.
Mockups of Apple's 2018 iPhones.
Orders at Wistron "may not be as high as previously expected" but are still happening, DigiTimes said, citing market watchers. The people dismissed rumors that Wistron would be completely cut out of flagship iPhone production.
It's not clear which exact model or models Wistron might be assembling, but the company is typically assigned to secondary iPhones. It's currently handling the iPhone SE and 6s, for example.
That could mean it will be tasked with the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone, since LCD technology is well-worn and the device is likely to be the cheapest of Apple's new options. At the same time, it could also become the most popular model, in which case Wistron might need help from other Apple assemblers like Foxconn or Pegatron.
Apple is believed to be working on two OLED models, sized at 5.8 and 6.5 inches, respectively. The former is typically seen as a spec bump of the iPhone X, while the latter should be a "Plus" version.
The inclusion of Wistron isn't the only rumored change to the iPhone supply chain this year. LG Display is expected to ship its first OLED iPhone panels, with estimates falling between 2 and 5 million.