Rumors were rampant Friday about production delays for the...

of “a key component” disrupted panel production. Some accounts speculate that the thinness of the iPhone 6 is causing manufacturing headaches. An Apple news conference scheduled for Sept. 9 has many industry watchers pegging availability for Sept. 19, based on previous Apple roll-out schedules. A delay could threaten the number of phones available at launch, reports say, but rumors of delays for upcoming iPhones are as much a part of the annual runup to a new launch as “exclusives” about design and features. Retailers, meanwhile, continue to clear shelves of the soon-to-be-dated iPhone 5s. Walmart lopped $100 off no-contract 5s and 5c models on the Straight Talk plan. The prepaid 32 GB 5c is now $449 at Walmart, while a 16 GB 5s is $549. Two-year-old iPhone 4s smartphones have dipped, in turn, to $349, with bonus case, on Straight Talk and to $299 for an 8 GB on Net10, we found. On the contract side, Target has a temporary price cut to $99 on the 16 GB 5s on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon networks with a two-year contract. Best Buy cut the 16 GB 5s to $149 on Sprint, with Verizon and AT&T holding at $199. The trade-in market for the iPhone is active, too. Gazelle gave a trade-in price Friday of $305 for a 32 GB iPhone 5s in good condition, $320 in excellent shape and $100 for a broken model. In contrast, the 32 GB iPhone 4s reaped $70 in good condition, $80 perfect and $30 broken, we found.