Did Verizon Just Confirm An October iPhone Release Date?

Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

There’s been plenty of iPhone “confirmations” recently. The Wall Street Journal, has, as they often do, confirmed not only a 4-inch (or 3.999-inch if you want to get all Sheldon about it) screen, but they’ve also confirmed the rumored slimmer form factor, thanks to the brand new, cutting edge in-cell technology.

Just this week, popular tech news and rumor site BGR did some sleuthing of their own and have independently confirmed several other rumors which have been circling the blogs as of late. According to Jonathan S Geller, the next iPhone will get an extra helping of RAM, (1 GB) finally use the next generation 4G LTE network and feature those brand new nano-SIMs Apple just convinced the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to adopt.

Without diving too deeply into semantics, none of these “confirmed” iPhone rumors are really confirmed. Each of these news sources have one thing in common: Some source somewhere who heard one thing at one point in the development process.

For example, some sources have reported that Apple is already producing the next iPhone at Foxconn in anticipation of incredibly high demand. BGR’s sources have told them otherwise, saying that Apple is still in the engineering test phase, and aren’t yet to the development testing phase.

Now, the next big iPhone rumor which has been “confirmed” (heavy-handed scare quotes being used here) concerns the launch date. Many expect the next iPhone to launch somewhere in the September/October range, just like last year. After all, Apple likes to stick with patterns when it comes to these sorts of things, and last year they broke the mold by giving the traditional September iPod announcement a miss.

If an incredibly aloof and vague comment by a mobile carrier CFO can be believed, we might not see the next iPhone until later in the year, in Q4…or around October. Like last year.

In a Q2 2012 earnings call, Verizon’s CFO Fran Shammo was asked about customers waiting for new phones to be released to upgrade their devices. Shammo answered, “Of course there’s always that, uh, rumor mill out there with a new phone coming out there in the fourth quarter, so people may be waiting.”

Now, many people are saying Shammo has “confirmed” the next iPhone will not be available until after September.

Like last year.

It’s hard to say Shammo “confirmed” an October release date, of course. He didn’t directly mention the iPhone. He barely even hinted at it, only referring to a “rumor mill” which spins for all types of devices, even Android phones.

It’s also incredibly easy to believe that Shammo knows exactly when the next iPhone plans to launch, but it’s more believable that he would keep his mouth shut about this sort of information.

So did Shammo “confirm” the launch date? Hardly, say I, though it certainly won’t stop anyone from using this short, off-handed quote for the next few months as we get ready for the thing to launch.