Griffin Technology Will Wait In Line For iPhone 5c With The Rest Of Nashville

Griffin Technology is already advertising its clear-backed covers to show off the iPhone 5c’s color, even though the company doesn’t have final dimensions for the phone. Credit: Griffin

There was some good and bad in this week’s iPhone launch for Nashville-based Griffin Technology. The accessory maker’s existing cases for the iPhone 5 will fit the new 5s. But they won’t work for the cheaper 5c.

The new $99 iPhone has a slightly different shape. And Apple doesn’t coordinate with third-party manufacturers, even big ones like Griffin that sell products in the Apple stores.

Griffin has some cases already made based on specs floating around the Internet. But spokesperson Jackie Anderson says Griffin won’t know if the measurements are exactly right until the phone comes out next Friday. And the company will have to wait in line at the Green Hills Apple Store, just like everyone else.

“We hurry up, bring it back to the office and that’s where the fit test happens there on the prototypes. Until we get that in our hands, it’s all an assumption. It’s quite an industry.”

Once confirmed, the prototype is sent to China for full-scale production. Anderson says Griffin won’t have cases for the iPhone 5c on store shelves until at least October, as the early rush begins to fade.