Apple to ship P'Book G5, iBook G5 in Q2?


DigiTimes reports that Quanta has landed the order for the long-awaited PowerBook G5. Further, Asustek is said to be preparing the iBook G5 for delivery, as well. According to the write up, deliveries of both products are to begin in Q2 in these quantities:

• iBook G5--1.3 to 1.5 million per year

• PowerBook--G5 30 to 50k per month

Further, Foxconn has landed the contract for Apple's new Mac mini (>100K/month), while Asustek is making the iPod shuffle (400~500K/month).

All three companies are established Apple OEMS.

Editor's note: Firstly, it's worth noting that DigiTimes reports have been wrong on a number of occassions in the past. That said, whoa! Major news...

In Wednesday's Q1 analyst conference call, Apple CFO Peter Openheimer said that the PowerBook G5 represented the "mother-of-all thermal challenges." This remark mirrors a comment he made during the Q4 conference call stating that Apple wouldn't be making a low-end Mac. Oppenheimer may be setting us up once again.

The killer here, of course, is the news that Apple may be working to produce an iBook G5. This is a previously unknown tangent indicating that the company is aggressively driving G5 adoption across the board.

Naturally, this news--if true--begs the question of whether the eMac will be migrated to the more robust processor. Further, the still unresolved issue of chip supply constraints comes to the fore.

What's your take?