Prediction: Apple To Sell 24M Next-Gen iPhones

According to DigiTimes Research out of Taiwan, iPhone-maker Foxconn is prepared to ship 24 million next-generation iPhones by the end of the year. The company expects to ship 4.5 million by June 30. Crazy, or calculated?Earlier today, my friend Sascha Segan form PCMag called DigiTimes, "The tech world's favorite science fiction magazine." He's not far off. The publication isn't known to be the most accurate source in the world. That said, it has an interesting bit of research for us to ponder today.

According to DigiTimes Research senior analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Foxconn is going to ship 4.5 million next-gen iPhones by the end of the first half of 2010, which will be followed by another 19.5 million during the second half of 2010. That puts the 2010 total at 24 million.

No one expects the next-generation iPhone to be announced before June 7, which is the first day of Apple's WWDC in San Francisco. That date alone gives Foxconn three weeks to ship 4.5 million devices. Just because the next-gen iPhone is being announced on June 7 doesn't mean it will be available that day, however. It probably won't go on sale until later in the month. Can Apple really sell 4.5 million iPhones in a single week? Doubtful.

DigiTimes claims to have other details. It reports, "The new device will adopt IPS (in-plane switching) panels with FFS (fringe-field switching) technology and a 960x640 resolution, Kuo said, noting that LG Display and Prime View International are the panel suppliers." The Apple iPad uses in-plane switching, which extends the viewability of the display. Kuo believes Apple is using this technology (rather than OLED/AMOLED) to make the iPhone a better ebook device.

Kuo notes that the new device will be powered by an Arm Cortex A8 processor, accompanied by 512MB memory, and a larger battery.

Right, and unicorns can fly.

We'll find out June 7. Until then, believe nothing.