And 24 million by the end of 2010, according to a new report out of Taiwan
DigiTimes, a Taipei-based tech daily with a rich supply of anonymous tipsters among Apple’s (AAPL) Pacific Rim suppliers, issued a detailed report Monday about the next generation iPhone that actually quotes a source by name.
This is presumably the same fourth-generation iPhone — or one much like it — that was left in a Redwood City bar four weeks ago.
Here, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, DigiTimes senior analyst, is what Taiwanese component makers are saying about it:
- Improved display. It comes with a sharper screen — 960-by-640 compared with 480-by-320 pixels in the current iPhones) — and the same IPS (in-plane switching) and FFS (fringe-field switching) technology used in the iPad to improve viewing angle and readability in sunlight. LG Display and Prime View International are said to be the panel suppliers.
- Faster chip and more memory. It will have a 512MB memory module from Samsung Electronics and a Arm Cortex A8 processor to take advantage of the multi-tasking capability of the iPhone 4.0 platform. (AppleInsider points out that the iPhone prototype Gizmodo cracked open had only 256MB of memory.)
- Compact construction. To solve the iPhone’s notorious battery life issues, the new iPhone’s panel is 33% thinner, leaving more space for an oversize power supply. Gizmodo’s teardown found a battery 19% larger than the one that powers today’s iPhones.
- Ambitious build-out. Foxconn is expecting to ship 24 million units this calendar year — 4.5 million before the end of June. Assuming that the new iPhone is introduced at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference keynote on June 7 and put on sale the same day, that only gives the company 24 days to move 4.5 million units — an average of 187,500 a day.
Note that there was no mention of the front-facing camera that figured so prominently in Gizmodo’s teardown.
DigiTimes has a mixed track record when trafficking in Apple rumors, but this report feels more credible than most. We’ll find out soon enough.
[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]
