Before the announcement of the new iPhone 5 had been made, the first protective case for the 5 arrived on my desk. I also got a press release promising me antoehr case was about to arrive.
How is it possible to build a case for a phone wrapped in secrecy?
The iPhone and many iPhone accessories are manufactured in Shenzhen, China. “There has always been a bit of a rumor mill around the companies in Shenzhen,†said Tim Hickman, whose company Hard Candy Holdings makes both cases I mentioned, one under the Hard Candy brand and under the Gumdrop brand.
Mr. Hickman said that Shenzhen manufacturers routinely pass around design information, to the point where it no longer an open secret, but a s trategy to attract customers like Mr. Hickman. “The factories have gone from, ‘Shhh, hey buddy, look at what I have for you,' to making it part of their presentation,†he said.
Mr. Hickman said they his company doesn't pay for design information, or seek it out, but will examine what it is offered. “We've literally had the information e-mailed to use blindly from several factories, so that's where the data comes from.â€
Still, being first to market still holds risks. Mr. Hickman said his company prepared cases based on rumors of a new iPhone last October. “It was a swing and a miss,†he said. “We spent the money to make all of the tooling, but didn't have the lead time to physically make cases.â€
This time, though, he said his confidence level was higher. Partially because a factory with a good track record said it could make cases for the iPhone 5, but rather than show the plans to Mr. Hickman, it had him send designs that the factory would modify.
He lowered the risk this time by ordering the tooling and 5000 units of each case design, the $45 Gumdrop Drop Tech Series and the $40 Hard Candy Shock Drop. He chose not to ship them from China until they were certain the cases would fit the new phone. “The product cost itself is not overly significant,†said Mr. Hickman. “The freight can be more than the iPhone case it itself.â€
Some of the cases â€" 3000 of each were sold overseas, leaving 2,000 of each for the United States â€" will arrive here in about three days, and should start shipping to customers on September 21 or 22, said Mr. Hickman.
How well the cases fit the phone, I can't say. I have the case, but no phone.
