iPhone 5 Fall Release? The Evidence is Adding Up and Wall Street is Listening

The rumors have been growing over the last few days that the iPhone 5 will not be released this summer, in the regular Apple update cycle, but instead will not be available until this the fourth quarter of this year (or September at the earliest). The initial reports came from those familiar with Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC). While the 3GS and iPhone 4 made their public debuts at the last two WWDC events, Apple has made it clear that there will be no hardware announcements at this year's show, and the focus would be on software - IOS and the next version of the Mac OS, "Lion", which is set to ship this summer. With this disappointing news, the conference proceeded to sell out the same day that registration opened.

Next came the reports that Apple has not even begun ordering the components for the iPhone 5, which would preclude the possibility of having an adequate supply of phones ready to sell before Fall 2011 at the earliest. While supply chain rumors can be sketchy, the LACK of supply chain rumblings and leaked component photos is unusual.

Now, it looks as if Wall Street is reacting, with the stock taking a hit seeming to coincide with the rumors of the delay, and analysts trimming their estimates on Apple based on the uncertainty of the annual summer iPhone launch.

Of course there are always those with a differing opinion - some think that the focus on getting the software right, and improving the anemic MobileMe into a powerful cloud service platform could be the best move Apple could make to set the iPhone up as a revolutionary device rather than an evolutionary one. Some are suggesting that a delay could allow Apple time to integrate 4G data service, like Verizon's LTE into the iPhone 5.

Personally, I am a little bummed - my 3G is lagging to the point it is barely usable, but I could probably hold out for a couple of months. Waiting until Fall is not going to work - this could push me to give Android a shot.