Apple places orders for next iPhone; details spill
Aggressive plan sees company aiming to ship 25 million units of the new iPhone by year's end, a Wall Street Journal report claims.
We've reached that ritual stage in the iPhone release cycle when blog rumours graduate to the grown-up press.
Apple has begun placing orders for key components for the next iPhone, The Wall Street Journal reported today.
Launch is scheduled for the third quarter, according to inside sources quoted by the business paper.
Apple designs all its gadgets, but outsources assembly to contract manufactuers, such as China's Foxconn, who in turn use components that Apple has ordered from outside suppliers.
25 million by year's end
A source at one supplier told the Journal, "Apple's sales estimate of the new iPhone is quite aggressive. It told us to prepare to help the company meet its goal of 25 million units by the end of the year." (In its April quarter, Apple said it sold 18.6 million iPhones, double the year-ago quarter.)
"iPhone 5" features
Limited feature details of the next iPhone have begun to emerge, too.
According to insiders, the new handset will be thinner and lighter tan the iPhone 4, with the digital camera bumped up from 5 to 8 megapixels.
Other rumoured features include support for HSPA+ (a faster form of 3G now supported by Telecom and Vodafone) and near field communication (NFC), a mobile payment technology. Both features already appear on a number of phones running Google's Android software.
IPhone 4 has suffered from a number of gremlins. Its external antenna caused call degredation or drop-outs when someone held the handset's lower left corner. And a problem with its proximity sensor meant the touchscreen keyboard sometimes did not de-activate at the right time - causing "Ear of Death" voice mail deletion or call cut-offs when a user's ear came into contact with the touchscreen. Both issues were addressed with software upgrades.
NBR staff
Thu, 07 Jul 2011
Thu, 07 Jul 2011
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Apple places orders for next iPhone; details spill
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