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April 14, 2011, 12:05 AM EDT
By Tim Culpan, Adam Satariano and Greg Bensinger
April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. will start selling a white version of its iPhone 4 in the next few weeks, following a delay of 10 months, according to three people with knowledge of the plans.
The new model will be available from AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless by the end of April, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The release was stalled as Apple resolved manufacturing challenges, including paint that peeled under heat, one person said.
Adding a white model may help spur demand as Apple works on the next generation of its top-selling product. Apple, the world’s largest technology company by market value, isn’t planning to unveil a new iPhone at its June developers’ conference, breaking with its practice in past years, two people familiar with the matter said. It may instead introduce the next iPhone in September, according to Mike Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
After releasing the iPhone 4 in June, Apple announced the delay of the white version, citing unspecified manufacturing trouble. Complications with a sensor used in the device was one difficulty, one of the people said. Until now, it’s only been available in black.
Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of marketing, indicated last month that a white model would be available soon, writing on Twitter that it would be on sale by spring.
Since the introduction of the first iPod media player in 2001, white has been a popular color for Apple’s gadgets. The earlier iPhone 3GS model was available in white, as is the iPad 2, which went on sale last month.
The iPhone accounted for 39 percent of Apple’s sales in the fiscal first quarter, which ended in December. The Cupertino, California-based company is due to report second-quarter financial results on April 20.
Apple rose $3.73 to $336.13 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have advanced 4.2 percent this year. AT&T, based in Dallas, slipped 29 cents to $30.18 on the New York Stock Exchange.
--With assistance from Ian King in San Francisco. Editors: Lisa Rapaport, Tom Giles.
To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net; Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net; Greg Bensinger in New York at gbensinger1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net; Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net; Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net.
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April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. will start selling a white version of its iPhone 4 in the next few weeks, following a delay of 10 months, according to three people with knowledge of the plans.
The new model will be available from AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless by the end of April, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The release was stalled as Apple resolved manufacturing challenges, including paint that peeled under heat, one person said.
Adding a white model may help spur demand as Apple works on the next generation of its top-selling product. Apple, the world’s largest technology company by market value, isn’t planning to unveil a new iPhone at its June developers’ conference, breaking with its practice in past years, two people familiar with the matter said. It may instead introduce the next iPhone in September, according to Mike Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
After releasing the iPhone 4 in June, Apple announced the delay of the white version, citing unspecified manufacturing trouble. Complications with a sensor used in the device was one difficulty, one of the people said. Until now, it’s only been available in black.
Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of marketing, indicated last month that a white model would be available soon, writing on Twitter that it would be on sale by spring.
Since the introduction of the first iPod media player in 2001, white has been a popular color for Apple’s gadgets. The earlier iPhone 3GS model was available in white, as is the iPad 2, which went on sale last month.
The iPhone accounted for 39 percent of Apple’s sales in the fiscal first quarter, which ended in December. The Cupertino, California-based company is due to report second-quarter financial results on April 20.
Apple rose $3.73 to $336.13 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have advanced 4.2 percent this year. AT&T, based in Dallas, slipped 29 cents to $30.18 on the New York Stock Exchange.
--With assistance from Ian King in San Francisco. Editors: Lisa Rapaport, Tom Giles.
To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net; Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net; Greg Bensinger in New York at gbensinger1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net; Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net; Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net.
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