Before the announcement of the new iPhone 5 was made, the first protective case for the 5 arrived on my desk. I also got a news release promising me that another case was available as well.
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 one under the Gumdrop brand.
Mr. Hickman said Shenzhen manufacturers routinely pass around design information to the point where it is no longer an open secret but a strategy 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 his company doesn't pay for design information or seek it out, but it 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. One reason is that 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 5,000 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 he was certain that the phone was really available this time. “The product cost itself is not overly significant,†said Mr. Hickman. “The freight can be more than the iPhone case itself.â€
Some of the cases â€" 3,000 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 Sept. 21 or 22,  Mr. Hickman said.
How well the cases fit the phone, I can't say. I have the case, but no phone.
