Supplier Pegatron rumored to nab 15 percent of iPhone 6 orders

[sincity]

Summer hasn't even started, and already Asian manufacturers are looking ahead to September, when Apple's rumored iPhone 6 is expected to start rolling off the assembly lines.

Taiwanese news outlet Commercial Times (via AppleInsider) today reported that frequent Apple supplier Pegatron Corporation appears to be adding the next iPhone to its current duties assembling the iPhone 5C and iPhone 4S.

That device is apparently none other than the so-called iPhone 6, which is widely believed to be a 4.7-inch successor to the current generation iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5 before it.

All told, Pegatron is expected to handle manufacturing chores for upwards of 50 million iPhone models this year, a sharp 40 percent increase over the 35 million handsets the firm assembled for Apple last year.

Eggs in two baskets

The increase appears solely attributed to the addition of a new iPhone 6 model, which lines up nicely against a previous rumor claiming that Pegatron would ramp up production on Apple's next flagship smartphone sometime during the second quarter.

That particular rumor, also from the Commercial Times, described the training of "thousands" of new workers at Pegatron's Taiwan-based facilities, who would be solely responsible for the new iPhone 6.

Apple is said to be splitting iPhone 6 manufacturing chores across its Asian supply chain, with Pegatron sponging up 15 percent of the bigger smartphone and the remaining 85 going to Foxconn, who exclusively assembled the iPhone 5S.

Although production is ramping up now, Apple isn't expected to actually launch the iPhone 6 until September, where a 5.5-inch model is said to also be in the cards, despite reportedly being released at a later date.

• Catch up on our full review of the new iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display!