Apple has ordered 10 million units of the iPhone 5 from Taiwanese manufacturer Pegatron, it has been reported.
Digitimes cites industry sources as saying that shipments of the units will begin in September.
The report offers few other details but fits in with the timescales suggested by the most recent iPhone 5 reports, which suggest that customers will be able to get their hands on the next-generation iPhone in either September or October .
Meanwhile, the Guardian's Charles Arthur reports that sealed boxes containing the new iPhone have been transported to mobile network operators for testing purposes.
Understandably, the process is very high security and few people working for the carriers will actually get to see the new iPhone. Also, the iPhones contained in the box are not actually the finished product - essentially all the hardware and features are there, but in a dummy body so if images were to leak, they wouldn't actually show the next-generation iPhone that Apple is preparing to announce.
Arthur also challenges the October launch theory, saying that all signs seem to be pointing to a September launch.
Reports from San Francisco last week suggested that a member of the public had spotted what he thought was an Apple employee using what he thought was an iPhone 5, though the evidence provided to back this claim up was shaky, to say the least.
It has also been rumoured that there could be more than one new iPhone announced when Apple holds its music-themed event in September.
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