If the upcoming next-gen iPhone likely won’t get 4G LTE, what will keep consumers’ interest? Turns out the iPhone 5 (or whatever the handset is eventually named) is going to be a ‘bigger upgrade than expected.’
Key to that surprise is a larger display but even thinner profile from the iPhone 4, suppliers are telling Wall Street analysts.
“It turns out that we are picking up that this interim iPhone refresh in the Fall timeframe could be a bigger upgrade than we expected,” Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu tells investors.
While Apple waits for the kinks to be worked out of wireless 4G LTE, the tech giant could unveil an iPhone with a touch display larger than the iPhone 4’s 3.5-inch screen, while powered by the same dual-core A5 processor now used by the iPad 2, overseas suppliers are telling the analyst.
Additionally, despite the larger screen, the next iPhone will be even more svelte, thanks to a thinner bezel, according to the overseas leaks. “We believe this makes sense to improve the iPhone experience without making it too bulky as we have seen with models from competitors,” Wu notes.
A survey indicates Apple could double its U.S. smartphone marketshare if consumers planning to buy an iPhone go for the new handset. Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster says 64 percent of people he survey want an iPhone, potentially causing the iPhone’s share to jump from its current 29 percent. Equally promising are survey results showing just 47 percent of current Android users will buy another smartphone powered by the Google mobile operating system. This compares to 94 percent of current iPhone users who say they will stick with Apple, according to Munster.
Nothing these analysts and suppliers are saying differs widely from what the iPhone 5 rumor mill has been saying for months. It seems we finally have consensus about exactly what the iPhone 5 will look like. Now for Apple to actually unveil the darn thing.
