With so many iPhone 5 rumors floating around, it's refreshing to hear one from an honest-to-goodness Apple partner speaking on the record. So mark it down in your rumor book that Verizon thought the next-generation Apple smartphone would be released in June but is now expecting it to arrive this fall.
"Obviously we're disappointed that the iPhone 5 didn't come out in June … we continue to prepare for it and when that comes we'll be ready," Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said this week on a webcast spotted by Channel Partners Online Thursday.
Speaking at the Oppenheimer Technology & Communications Conference, Shammo said it's likely that the much-anticipated iPhone will finally make its debut in the fall, which is in line with persistent rumors of a September or October release date—though the Verizon exec "isn't ready to stake his life on it," according ot Channel Partners Online.
Predicting a fall release date seems a pretty safe bet for Shammo. While some tipsters cited by Apple rumor mongers have pegged a debut for the iPhone 5 of as early as Sept. 5, others swear that the smartphone won't hit Apple Store shelves until late October.
One fellow who is likely hoping the iPhone 5 doesn't arrive too late in the year: Rob Shoesmith. The U.K. man says he plans to camp out for up to a month at London's Covent Garden Apple Store to be the first to get his hands on the new smartphone.
If Apple keeps the iPhone 5 under wraps too far towards the wrong side of summer, that little publicity stunt could start getting pretty chilly.