Apple unveiled three new offerings – new iPhone, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. iPhone 6/6 Plus launch was much in line with expectations.
iPhone 6/6 Plus upgrades are much in line with leaked reports. Thinner (6.8/7.1mm vs. 5s 7.6mm), faster (A8 processor), better display resolution and bigger battery. Camera is in line to stay with 8MP/f2.2 and Plus comes with OIS function. While there is limited surprise to spec, iPhone 6 Plus looks fairly attractive given richer spec but only US$100 premium. If iPhone 6 Plus mix to go higher against consensus looking for 30%, this likely benefits Hon Hai who is the sole source to iPhone Plus due to higher ASP and margins. Pre-orders are to start on 12 Sep, and phones are to be available on 19 Sep.
Side by Side Comparison of iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Note 4, LG G3 and HTC One M8
Apple Watch won’t be available until early 2015, suggesting momentum might not take off until late 2014e at the earliest for the supply-chain. However, it’s worth noting that it comes with vibrating haptic feedback (for tag) and MIC/speaker (Siri) which underpins our positive view on acoustic names, particularly AAC who supplies both acoustic and haptics. Both components seem to have bigger addressable market beyond phones to wearable long term.