iPhone 5 Arriving in Early October Sans 4G: Analyst

As tech enthusiasts are waiting eagerly for iPhone 5, a Wall Street analyst has said that the iPhone 4 successor would arrive in early October and it may not be a 4G LTE device as speculated in the market.

The analyst, however, said that Apple would launch a LTE iPhone in the first half of 2012 with materially improved user interface, and expects the technology giant to release a cheaper version of iPhone targeting emerging markets.

We expect new product launches including a new iPhone in early October with store training to begin soon, an iPhone targeting emerging markets, and a LTE iPhone in 2012 with an improved UI, Wedbush Morgan analyst Scott Sutherland wrote in a note to clients.

Moreover, Sutherland expects Apple to ship 21 million iPhones in the fiscal fourth quarter, up from 20 million. More importantly, the analyst expects shipments of 26 million units in the fiscal first quarter, up from 23 million, due to seasonality and iPhone 5.

With the introductions ahead of the holidays, we expect a monster FQ1 (Dec) from Apple, said Sutherland, who has an outperform rating on Apple stock.