Apple is revising its own internal sales and shipment targets for the iPhone, according to a report quoting some of its key component manufacturers in Asia. The new projections also reportedly call for at least 5 million new CDMA shipments in the quarter, yet another sign the popular smartphone will soon be available on Verizon’s wireless network.
As Enterprise Mobile Today reports, the component suppliers are ramping up production in anticipation of continued strong demand into the first half of the new year.
Also, a post to the Apple Insider blog reported that China Telecom is in discussions with Apple to be the first provider of CDMA-based iPhones in the world’s most populous nation, which is “in the early stages” of iPhone adoption.
If Apple managed to ship the 15.5 million to 16 million iPhone units it originally projected in the fourth quarter, it will have shipped more than 47 million total units in 2010.
Apple has bumped up its own internal forecasts for iPhone shipments in the first quarter of 2011 from 19 million units to more than 21 million units, according to a report from Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes.
According to sources close to Asia-based manufacturers building components for the wildly popular smartphone, the revised estimates predict shipment of some 5 million to 6 million CDMA units that would seem to indicate Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is close to officially introducing a Verizon-ready version of the iPhone.