Further evidence of Apple's ongoing production of the 6th generation iPhone surfaced Monday as Apple's prepayment for inventory components ballooned to levels not seen for the iDevice maker since the first iPhone was the new kid on the smartphone block.

As All Things D uncovered, prepayment for inventory components rose $1.15 billion sequentially in the June quarter. That strongly suggests that products are being built in a monstrous production wave that will likely deliver a new iPhone and possibly even an iPad Mini later this year.

“Historically, such increases have been followed by a solid ramp-up in revenue in the following 2-3 quarters,” says Wells Fargo Securities analyst Maynard Um. “In our view, an increase in inventory component prepayment may suggest that Apple is securing supply for potential new product launches.”

As MMi reported this afternoon, sources close to the supply chain have revealed that the next-generation iPhone will likely go on sale the week of September 17th, just one week after its debut - presumably at an Apple media event to be held on or around September 12th.

Source: All Things D