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More 3G iPhone Talk: 11M Units to Ship

Analysts now weigh in on actual unit numbers for the rumored iPhone model

Mar 31, 2008 12:52 GMT  ·  By
'We're gonna put 3G in this baby and you're gonna like it!'
   'We're gonna put 3G in this baby and you're gonna like it!'

Recently, Bank of America analyst Scott Craig has been quoted as saying that Apple's plans are to build some 11 million iPhone units - three million in the quarter starting May and another eight million in the third quarter. The news seems to be in strong relation with Hon Hai being contracted for a new iPhone model.

"Our latest channel checks point to a significant production build of a 3G iPhone beginning in the month of June after a initial small build in May," the analyst told Reuters and clients alike. Sources on the web also remind AT&T's statements last year, in which the company claimed it expected to be able to sell a 3G version of iPhone sometime during 2008.

Readers should note that the news comes just after "people familiar with Apple's plans" told Dow Jones Newswires that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., in Taiwan, has been contracted by Apple to work on a new iPhone, most likely the 3G version of Apple's popular handset.

A Hon Hai official, who wished to remain anonymous, told Dow Jones Newswires that they were discussing with Apple for the future release of a "more advanced version" of its iPhone handset. The Hon Hai insider, however, declined to provide further details. Apple spokeswoman Jill Tan also refused to give specifics on the matter, according to the same source.

A possible May release of the new iPhone model is now being rumored, with analysts also suggesting that Apple's WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) 2008, recently dated for June, will be the time and place for the unveiling.

3G is the third generation of mobile phone standards and technology. Superseding 2G, it is based on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) family of standards under the International Mobile Telecommunications programme, "IMT-2000".

3G networks are wide area cellular telephone networks which evolved to incorporate high-speed internet access and video telephony, unlike IEEE 802.11 networks. IEEE 802.11 (also known as Wi-Fi or WLAN) networks are short range, high-bandwidth networks. They are primarily aimed at data transfer.