Encasing Apple: how Proporta makes its iPhone 5 accessories Lynnette Prigmore, the company's Head of Product, says "There is a lot of pressure on accessories companies to get products on sale as close to the device announcement as possible. This can be very challenging. Set up 16 years ago to make a case for the original Psion PDA, Prigmore says that even Proporta must rely on rumours on blogs to help its design team prepare for an Apple launch. Apple have certainly kept us on our toes since the original iPhone launched in June 2007 and continue to do so. The company produces a range of prototypes prior to the release of any new Apple products, with engineers in Brighton preparing before mass production begins in the Far East. Prigmore says being based in the UK is vital to the firm's success. "We're able to hold regular meetings with our third party brands such as Ted Baker or The National Gallery to ensure a quick turnaround with their design teams also," she says. Having survived five iPhone launches so far, we're pretty used to moving quickly and typically see an initial range in stock within 1-2 weeks with the announcement. On the day of a launch itself, however, Proporta's staff don't receive any special treatment: "The product team can usually be found paying extremely close attention to the look and features of the new iPhone, iPad or iPods. I'm not sure that our founders, old university friends Guy Monson and Mike Coombes, were expecting such hype when they first set Proporta. We follow technology blogs, industry rumours and keep our ears to the ground and prepare our design team to be ready for when Apple make the actual announcement.