In a note to clients — as reported by “AppleInsider” (http://www.appleinsider.com) — Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says 28nm chip shortages at Qualcomm aren’r likely to keep Apple from releasing its next gen iPhone with a “completely redesigned body style” in October.
“The bottom line is that we remain comfortable with an October iPhone 5 launch despite the reported 28nm chip shortage at Qualcomm,” he told clients.
Qualcomm is widely expected to provide the baseband chip for the next-generation iPhone, notes “AppleInsider.” Both the iPhone 4S and the third-generation 4G iPad make use of Qualcomm cellular chips.
Munster gives an 80% chance that iPhone sales will meet its forecast of 49 million units in the December 2012 quarter. Even if Apple was affected by shortages, the analyst thinks Apple smartphone sales would simply be shifted into the March 2013 quarter and beyond.