Analyst: 'revolutionary, compelling' iPhone 5 out in October

Apple's iPhone 5 will be out in October and sport a "revolutionary" industrial design. That, plus 4G LTE connectivity courtesy of 28nm Qualcomm chippery, will make the handset a "compelling upgrade".

So said market observer Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, a broker, yesterday.

Munster said the iPhone 5's October debut may be later than fellow pundits - and fanboys - might have hoped for, but the launch window is not only a year on from the debut of the iPhone 4S, but gives chip maker Qualcomm the time it needs up ramp up production of 28nm 4G LTE chips.

"Based on our checks," Munster said, "we believe the design win momentum of Qualcomm's 28nm products has been exceptionally strong and a 28nm LTE baseband is likely designed into the next iPhone."

Qualcomm has been expanding the number of chip foundries capable of punching out its products, added Munster, giving the firm capacity it needs "to support a Q4 LTE iPhone 5 launch".

The 4G version of the iPad 3 uses Qualcomm chips for the cellular radio.

In any case, said Munster, the timing of the iPhone 5's launch doesn't matter: it'll so impress, fanboys and regular punters will snap it up.

Apple sold more than 37m iPhones in the final three months of 2011. Wall Street reckons it'll sell almost 40m in Q4 2012, an eight per cent increase. Munster said the year-on-year sales increase will be rather higher than that. ®