iPhone 8 Tipped to Be Available in Limited Quantities After Launch

Apple is tipped to launch three iPhone models this year - the usual iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, as well as a more expensive iPhone 8, also rumoured to be called 'iPhone Edition'. Now, a fresh report claims that the iPhone 8 may come in limited quantities when launched in September, and full-fledged availability could be delayed until the end of the fourth quarter.

According to the latest research from Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis, Christopher Hemmelgarn, Thomas O'Malley, and Jerry Zhang, the iPhone 8 will be launched in September but will be made available only in limited quantities. It will presumably go out of stock soon, and full-fledged availability will be sometime around the end of the year. This refutes previous claims that suggest that while the iPhone 8 will be announced in September, it won't be available until till much later.

"Suppliers generally had good things to say about the upcoming iPhone 8 launch (for our purposes iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, and iPhone Pro) as new features drive a more complicated manufacturing process and higher ASPs. We now believe that all three devices will feature wireless charging and will all be launched in the normal September timeframe, although the majority of iPhone Pro volumes may not be available until Q4," the Barclays note obtained by MacRumors reads.

The reasons for the delay in full scale availability are not detailed, but constraints in OLED display supply could be one of them. The report also reiterates Kuo's claims by stating that the iPhone 8 will have a 5.8-inch display with only a 5.15-inch of usable space. There will be the introduction of virtual buttons, and Touch ID will be embedded underneath the display. Barclays also expects a 3D sensor module in the front, a dual camera setup, and a film-based Force Touch solution. Because of its large size, the analysts expect the iPhone 8 to pack a larger battery.

As mentioned earlier, Apple is expected to launch three smartphones this year, two of which will be successors to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and will most likely be called iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus. These smartphones are tipped to retain the 4.7-inch and 5.2-inch display sizes, but pack improvements under the hood.