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Next iPhone to sport thinner, lighter casing, says paper
Year-end sales target: 25m units, apparently
The Wall Street Journal has joined the Great iPhone 5 Rumour Fest, claiming the yet-to-be-announced gadget will be thinner and lighter than the current model.
The new handset will also sport an 8Mp camera, its Asian component manufacturer insiders tell the paper.
Past speculation has it that the handset will incorporate Apple's A5 processor, as per the iPad 2.
These firms have apparently been told that Apple wants to shift 25m of the smartphones before 2011 is out. That's 10m more than the last claimed total, though the 15m figure was said to be for a shorter period than the remainder of the year.
Apple may have trouble achieving either target - the WSJ sources say the next iPhone - iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S, we still don't know - is harder to assemble than past models. That may make it harder for contract manufacturer Foxconn to punch out as many of the things than Apple wants.
The notion that the next iPhone will be thinner and lighter suggests to some pundits that it will sport a new design. That doesn't necessarily follow - Apple may have shaved a millimetre or two off the iPhone 4. Past 3D CGI models designed for case manufacturers, if correct, would suggest that's the case, and the current look is popular. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
