CNN's got a wire story today citing some UBS analysts in speculating that a 3G iPhone is in fact planned for launch by the middle of this year, and that the handset will be powered by chips from German chipmaker Infineon Technologies. The report claims that Apple is ramping down the current EDGE (2.5G) iPhone in order to clear out inventories ahead of a Summer launch.
The original iPhone launched last June, and its been Apple's style for the past several years to refresh major product lines at least once a year. While the current iPhone received a price cut a few months after launch and a memory bump earlier this year, critics have maintained that the first "true" model refresh will come in the form of an iPhone that works on AT&T's "3G" high speed data network.
A 3G iPhone would also make sense in terms of Apple's global marketing efforts, as European consumers are more used to high speed mobile data access than their counterparts here in the States. The lack of 3G on the current iPhone may be partly responsible for relatively sluggish sales to date in Europe.
Given that mobile phones must be vetted by the FCC months before they go on sale, and that filing documents are made public on the FCC's Website, it stands to reason that Apple will pre-announce a 3G iPhone well ahead of its ship date - as they did with the original iPhone, announcing it at MacWorld last January and shipping in late June. Maybe we'll get an unexpected surprise at the "iPhone Software Roadmap" event Apple has scheduled for next Thursday, March 6 ...
Read the original article on CNN Money.
