3G iPhone coming in June?
Since last week, several reports about the iPhone have been spreading on the Internet, showing evidence of a release for as soon as June. Here's MacScoop catch-up/sum-up on this hot topic.
Many of these reports relate possible deals between Apple and Taiwan-based manufacturing companies. Banc of America believes that Apple has ordered more than 10 million of both current and next generation, 3G capable iPhones to be produced during this year.
Hon Hai is said to be the manufacturer chosen by Apple to produce all of these iPhones, with the three first million planed to ship in June.
One of the technical challenges Apple could face with the 3G iPhone is to keep battery life reasonable, considering 3G chips consume much more than EDGE chips used on the current iPhone. A recent chip recently released by Broadcom could significantly help Apple to achieve acceptable battery life with 3G connectivity.
Still, the 3G iPhone model is still not listed among FCC approved devices. The FCC aproval is usually a necessary step before starting manufacturing. This step is incompatible with Apple's secret policy though, as it requires the specifications for the new device to be published on the FCC's public database. Apple may have found a way to address that issue but if it isn't the case, the new device's specs shouldn't take long to appear on FCC's web site.
Meanwhile, a Gene Munster analyst is very bullish on 2008 and 2009 iPhone sales. he predicts over 10 million iPhone sales in 2008 and, hold you breath, as many as 43 million iPhones to be sold in 2009, mainly thanks to availability in several new countries, success of the 3G model and the release of cheaper (sub $300) models.
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These rumors are being
These rumors are being pumped up, but they aren't backed by anything other than that chipset manufacturers are developing newer, better chipsets. Which isn't news.
I would suspect the current generation of iPhone to stick around at least until the end of the year. There is a lot of additional value Apple can add to the iPhone via software on the current device. Apple may as well take advantage of that capability before throwing new, expensive hardware development costs into the mix.
The only thing that the iPhone is "missing" is higher speed cell chipsets, and it is a poor assumption to assume that major providers in the US and elsewhere can meet higher speeds despite the technology's capability. Apple is pushing 3G providers to step up to the plate by staying out of the fray and implicitly encouraging RIM, Nokia, and Samsung to push the envelope in terms of device bandwidth - at their own expense.