This morning, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo released the latest report on the iPhone 12 and AirPods, which provides more information about the iPhone 12 and AirPod 3.
According to this report, in order to reduce the negative impact of high-cost 5G on hardware business profits, Apple will exert greater bargaining pressure on component manufacturers and reduce component specifications to save costs. According to our comprehensive review of components, the iPhone battery soft and hard board and AirPods 2 soft and hard board suppliers are the biggest losers.
Adopting 5G will significantly increase the cost of the iPhone 12. The cost of Sub-6 and millimeter-wave is 75-85 dollars and 125-135 dollars, respectively. However, in order to increase shipments, Apple will not significantly increase the price of the iPhone 12. Without prejudice to the user experience, Apple will actively downgrade parts specifications to reduce costs.
The latest survey pointed out that among the iPhone components, the iPhone battery board specifications have declined significantly. The battery soft and hard board of the iPhone 12 is reduced by the number of layers and smaller areas, so the average unit price is 40-50% lower than that of the iPhone 11.
The battery board design of the iPhone12s series (new iPhone in 2H21) will abandon the soft and hard boards and use the soft board. The average unit price of the battery soft board of the iPhone 12 series is expected to be 30-40% lower than that of the iPhone 12.
The report says if we compare the average unit price of the parts of existing Apple hardware products in 1H20 and 2H20, we find that the price of the AirPods 2 soft and hard versions is the most obvious. The new 1H21 AirPods 3 will abandon the existing soft and hardboard/SMT design and use SiP instead. The above trend is not good for existing AirPods 2 soft and hard board suppliers. The average unit price of AirPods 2 soft/hard boards declined by 25-35% in 2H20 (vs. 1H20 average unit price).