CDMA iPhone 4 production increased to meet anticipated demand
According to the Asian newspaper Digitimes, production of the CDMA iPhone 4 may climb as high as 15 million units for 2011. Pegatron Technology is reportedly delivering its first batch of CDMA iPhone 4 handsets to Apple and has originally projected internally that it would manufacture 10 million units in 2011. This internal estimate has been increased by 2 to 5 million units due to strong demand for this variant of Apple's popular smartphone.
The CDMA iPhone 4 is expected to land on Verizon Wireless starting February 10, and it will be available for US$199 with a 2-year customer agreement. Ever since detailed rumors of the CDMA iPhone began surfacing, demand for the iPhone 4 on Verizon has been high. Due to this pent-up demand, analysts project that Verizon could sell up to 16 million units in 2011.
According to analyst Charles Wolf of Needham & Company, most of these new iPhone users will be former feature phone owners who will drop their brew phone for the iOS device. Other new iPhone owners may be customers who have left Sprint, T-Mobile or AT&T now that Verizon finally has the iPhone. The CDMA iPhone could also land globally on other carriers, such as China Telecom or India's Reliance Communications, though a launch outside of the US has not been confirmed by Apple.
[Via AppleInsider]
