14 DAY TRIAL // An analyst with a mixed track record of predicting Apple announcements and product release dates has weighed in on the latest iPhone 5 rumors, sharing his fellow analysts’ beliefs that Apple’s fifth-generation phone hardware is coming in September, roughly 80 days after a much-anticipated iOS 5 announcement at WWDC 2011.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, scheduled to kick off with a keynote address on June 6, may be the time and place for an iOS 5 unveiling, say analysts and Apple pundits alike.
Gene Munster, of Piper Jaffray, says there is an average of 79 days between these iOS announcements and the next-generation iPhone announcement.
Going by his estimates, the iPhone 5 announcement should drop sometime in August, while actual shipping would commence the following month, which pretty much echoes recently published research notes from other Wall Street analysts.
Munster also said he believes Apple key sales driver for the iPhone 5 will be the underlying software, a forecast he undoubtedly picked up from various blogs and websites that watch Apple’s work up close.
Indeed, the company sees much greater potential in software, rather than hardware, as the former ultimately defines the latter.
Munster said he also expects Apple to introduce a larger screen with the next-generation iPhone model. A 4-inch display would serve as a "window into the software," Munster said.
There has been some indication that Apple is equipping the next iPhone with a larger, edge-to-edge screen whilst retaining the current form factor, but none of the so-called leaks seem too credible.
Finally, Munster’s research note reportedly provided his take on the delayed iPhone 5 announcement (as Apple has historically announced new iPhone hardware in the June-July timeframe).
The key factor for the delay, he says, is likely a software-driven feature that is "not yet fully-baked."
Other factors cited by Munster include Apple’s inability to decide on the inclusion of 4G/LTE capabilities in good time, as well as the earthquake in Japan.