Dow Jones Newswire-WSJ | Apple Inc. is developing a new iPhone to debut this summer and also
appears to be working on another model for U.S. mobile phone operator
Verizon Wireless, say people briefed on the matter.

The people briefed on the matter said that the next iPhone is being
manufactured by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision
Industry Co., which produced Apple’s previous iPhones. The
other iPhone model that has CDMA capability is being manufactured by
Pegatron Technology Corp., the contract manufacturing subsidiary of
Taiwan’s ASUSTeK Computer Inc., these people said.

One person familiar with the situation said Pegatron is scheduled to start mass producing the iPhones in September, but it was unclear when Apple might make the model available. Spokespeople for Apple, Pegatron, Hon Hai and Verizon declined to comment.

CDMA is a U.S. wireless technology adopted by Verizon, Sprint Nextel Corp. and a handful of operators in countries like South Korea and Japan. The vast majority of carriers worldwide–including Apple’s longtime U.S. iPhone partner AT&T Inc. –base their networks on the GSM standard.

While Apple has unveiled a new iPhone every June or July since launching the product in 2007, the new model with CDMA capability is notable. That’s because Apple and AT&T have long had an exclusive relationship with the iPhone. That has given AT&T a competitive edge over other carriers like Verizon for the last three years.

“There has been lots of incorrect speculation on CDMA iPhones for a long time. We haven’t seen one yet and only Apple knows when that might occur,” said an AT&T spokesman.