iPhone 5 production yields improving, iPad mini - not so much

Analyst Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee has communicated with some of his contacts among Apple's supply chain. The analyst's little research has revealed that the production yields of the iPhone 5 are continuing to improve, which will probably allow Apple to have a smooth Holiday season. One of the evidences of the increasing supply is the fact that Apple now needs only 2-4 days to ship an iPhone 5 from its online store, as opposed to a week or so.

The iPhone 5 is one pretty impressive device from construction standpoint, but that has also caused significant trouble for Foxconn, the company that assembles the handset. One Foxconn official even said that the iPhone 5 is "the most difficult device" they have ever worked on. Still, employees are obviously getting better, and more and more iPhones are currently flying off the assembly lines.

Things seem to stand a bit differently with the iPad mini, according to Wu. His contacts have revealed that demand for the small tablet is still very strong, so Apple will be continuing to torture its customers with scarce availability and long shipping dates for the time being.