While the Daily Mail may have wet people’s appetite with rumors of an iPhone nano earlier this week, new analyst reports may be putting a damper on claims of a holiday launch.
Analyst Firm Lehman Brothers, feel that Apple’s supply chain would not appear to be in line with a diet iPhone until next year. Analyst Ben Reitzes advised his clients in a recent report noting, “While we believe Apple is working on a lower-end iPhone form factor, we do not think one will come until Spring 2009.” via ElectricPig.
This certainly seems to be suggesting that Apple does have plans to rollout a slimmed down version of the iPhone and is no longer a question of if, but rather when.
The evidence of a Spring 2009 arrival would would seem far more plausible than a holiday launch as Apple’s on-going struggle to meet the demand for the current iPhone 3G market, which will be expanding to 20 more countries by late August and 30 more by the end of the year, has been a difficult road.
Reitzes added, “While we have picked up indications of a product like this in the supply chain, it doesn’t appear that the company has yet solidified the form factor, so it may be hard to get it finalized in time for the holidays.”
Additionally 9to5Mac has posed an interesting theory that the Daily Mail’s sources may have botched rumors of an iPhone nano, confusing it with Apple’s plans to upgrade the iPod line. Perhaps they have mistaken what could be a multi-touch iPod nano for a smaller version iPhone.
