JPMorgan quashes iPhone Nano rumours

Sydney : JPMorgan Chase, which had yesterday claimed that a slimmer iPhone, based on the iPod Nano, was on the way, and was expected to hit the markets soon, has now quashed the same reports.

JPMorgan stock analyst Kevin Chang had yesterday said Apple would ditch its much-lauded touchscreen with the Nano model, instead adopting a circular touch pad control similar to the iPod's scroll wheel.

The speculation helped drive Apple shares to an all-time trading high of US 134.50 dollars, before they closed at US132.25 dollars, up 1.5 per cent.

Apple stocks surged about 40 per cent in the months preceding the iPhone's June 29 release in the US.

But three of Chang's colleagues today released a new research note expressing doubt over the veracity of the report. They said a 3G version of the iPhone was more likely to be released next.

"We caution that the potential for a low-end, subsidized phone from Apple seems unlikely in the near term," said Chang’s colleagues Bill Shope, Elizabeth Borbolla and Vlad Rom.

"Perhaps Apple will choose to eventually replace its iPod family with phones over time, but it could be premature to assume this will happen in volume any time soon,” they said.

They said Chang’s assumption on the form factor and functionality of the so-called Nano phone were based on patent filings, which gave “little information on actual upcoming products".

However, a cheaper iPhone was "inevitable", as it took Apple more than two years to launch its first low-end iPod, the iPod Mini, they said.

"Our view is that the next iPhone will be 3G and remain a high-priced, non-subsidized model. We currently expect this to come in the first half of 2008, but an earlier launch is possible and would be encouraging," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted them as saying in their analysis. (ANI)