14 DAY TRIAL // Leaks from Taiwan-based supply chain makers indicate Apple has toned down shipments of the current-generation iPhone in anticipation of the ‘iPhone 4S’ launch this Septemeber.
Industry publication DigiTimes reports that Apple has lowered its expected shipment volume of iPhone 4 units for the second quarter of 2011
The drop - from 20 million units to 17.5-18 million units (16 million being of the 3G version and 1.5-2 million of the CDMA version) - is mainly due to the planned launch of iPhone 4S “as early as September 2011,” the report reads.
The Taiwanese paper cites these people as saying that “production of iPhone 4S will begin in August and the earliest launch may be in September.”
The handset will allegedly incorporate the 3G and CDMA chips manufactured by Qualcomm, it will boast an upgraded 8-megapixel resolution camera sensor from OmniVision Technologies.
Taiwan-based Largan Precision has been reportedly tapped to provide the lens kits.
While there is still debate as to what Apple’s next-generation iPhone will be called, numerous industry watchers have agreed that it will not be a major redesign of the handset, but rather an upgrade much like the one from iPhone 3G to iPhone 3GS - hence the 4S dubbing.
However, that’s not to say these so-called experts can’t be wrong.
Renowned analysts watching Apple closely often beat around the bush only to be ultimately baffled by the company’s official announcements.
This may be the case in 2011 as well.
For example, there is just as strong of an indication that Apple’s next iPhone will have a bigger, edge-to-edge screen, as well as different placement of certain important hardware parts, like the cameras.
These changes alone could well promote the handset to a much-deserved 5.0 status.