Apple Stocks Up on Components for September iPhone Launch

Apple hasn’t yet officially announced the fall event at which it is expected to debut the next iteration of the iPhone, but it’s definitely planning one.

IMore was first to report that the company has scheduled a special event for September 12, and now we’ve confirmed it as well. Sources tell AllThingsD that Apple is currently planning an event for the week of September 9th, with Wednesday being the date on which it will likely be held. And while we haven’t yet confirmed the event’s focus, history suggests it will indeed be the new iPhone.

One thing’s for certain, though: Apple is ramping up for a big fall product cycle. And to see that, you need only look at the recent spike in the company’s prepayment for inventory components.

According to Apple’s latest 10-Q filing, prepayment for inventory components rose $1.15 billion sequentially in the June quarter. That’s a big increase, one that puts such prepayments at their highest level in four years — 12.6 percent of Apple’s total sales, according to Wells Fargo Securities analyst Maynard Um. And as Um notes, they’re a good indicator that Apple is ramping up for a big product launch — or several of them.

“Historically, such increases have been followed by a solid ramp-up in revenue in the following 2-3 quarters,” Um said in a Monday note to clients. “In our view, an increase in inventory component prepayment may suggest that Apple is securing supply for potential new product launches.”