Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu revealed in a note to investors Wednesday that Apple’s overseas suppliers tell him that the Cupertino tech giant will release a new line of iPhones in 2011. The product line will include iPhones of varying sizes and could resemble the company’s popular iPod nano.
“Our sources believe these likely represent new high-end and low-end iPhone models to complement its current iPhone 4,” Wu wrote. “One possibility we are picking up is a ‘mini’ or ‘nano’ iPhone with a smaller candybar form factor leveraging technology in its new mini touchscreen iPod nano.”
In addition, WU speculated that based on what he is hearing, the new line of mini iPhones could be available through carriers other than AT&T, the current exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the United States.
While there has been talk of carrier expansion in the US for years, so far nothing has materialized. That situation, however, is dramatically different “across the pond,” where later this month, Germany will be the next country to buck iPhone exclusivity as Vodafone will join the ranks of mobile carriers to offer the Apple smartphone to German mobile customers.
