Isuppli Speculates Lte Costs And Extra Chipset Will Keep Apple Away This Year

In a note last night, Wayne Lam of IHS-iSuppli made the case against Apple going with 1st generation LTE chips in its next iPhone.

I think Apple is more concerned with the extra space and battery life the new chips would consume much more than the extra cost of the components.“The first generation of LTE chipsets forced a lot of design compromises with the handset, and some of those we are just not willing to make,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple chief financial officer, speaking at the company’s April 2011 earnings call.

The next round of chips which would allow Apple to put LTE in a similarly sized package won’t hit the streets until the first half of 2012.

I don’t see an iPhone as big at the Thundebolt or Charge, ever. 

• Leaked AT&T documents might reveal LTE iPad testing (9to5mac.com)
• China Mobile confirms 4G LTE deal with Apple (9to5mac.com)
• iSuppli: Apple chasing Nokia for the title of the world’s #1 smartphone maker (9to5mac.com)