Rumors of a June release date for the iPhone 5 had Apple followers scurrying Tuesday to make sense of a South Korean news site's report that the fifth-generation smartphone would debut at a Steve Jobs-hosted event sometime around the time of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
South Korea-based ETNews reported Monday that unnamed "industry officials" had "confirmed" a June release date for the iPhone, which could happen on June 4 or 6, depending on how one interprets a translated version of the ETNews story. The WWDC is scheduled for June 6 to 10.
The report also pointed to availability of the iPhone 5 to South Korean consumers through local carriers KT and SK Telecom before the end of June.
The ETNews report flies in the face of a pair of other recent iPhone-related items. Earlier this month, Sony CEO Howard Stringer told the Wall Street Journal that a camera sensor plant had been damaged in the March Tohuku earthquake, delaying part shipments.
That revelation becomes material to the issue at hand if you give credence to another report that Sony will replace OmniVision – itself rumored to have parts delivery woes – as the supplier of cameras for Apple's next-generation iPhone.
Add in another recent rumor from Macotakara.jp that Apple is pushing the iPhone 5 release to the fall, and it's no wonder that many are skeptical about the ETNews report.
Is it likely that South Korea will get a new version of the iPhone just a few months after Apple started selling the iPhone 4 in that country? And with the iPhone 4 still selling briskly and possible roadblocks in Apple's ability as of yet to integrate 4G technology into its new handset to its liking, does it make sense for the company to rush the iPhone 5 to market?
Still, others point to some key patterns in Apple's product release schedule that have appeared over the past several years. Release cycles for Apple's iOS-driven devices appear to be getting tighter. Apple's second edition of the iPad came out less than a year after the first one debuted. Is the company really going to stagger its iPhone releases by more by 15 months or more?
In any case, if you happen to be in the market for an iPhone 4 in late spring, you may want to wait to see how this plays out.