What’s that you say? The next-generation iPhone is a-coming? According to a note from UBS global equity research analyst Nicolas Gaudois, Apple has tapped German chip-maker Infineon to outfit the guts of the next-gen 3G iPhone. The chipset, which includes a digital baseband controller, power management unit (PMU), and radio frequency (RF) module, will finally bring a 3G HSDPA-enabled iPhone to market – bringing faster data speeds to the web-surfing iPhone-masses.
More encouraging than the confirmation that Infineon will be providing the 3G hardware for the 3G iPhone is the expectation that the next-generation of iPhone could be upon us quite soon. Gaudois said that, “Consistent with these checks, our Apple analyst Ben Reitzes believes that 3G iPhones will be released by mid-year.” That belief is in line with CNBC’s Jim Goldman’s report that we’ll have a 3G iPhone in-hand by late May or early June 2008.
What’s more, Gaudois mentioned that Infineon is slowing production of the EDGE baseband hardware that is used in the current iPhone. The ramp-down in production is seen as a move to clear out EDGE chipset inventory ahead of the 3G iPhone’s entry into the HSDPA landscape.
Bring on the 3G iPhone!
[Via: CNN Money]