The Apple iPhone may have piqued the interest of consumers and left critics swooning in its wake thanks to a host of innovative features and functions, but one major fault continues to follow the handset wherever it goes -- its lack of 3G connectivity.
Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner offers that Europe will receive a new 3G iPhone in the latter half of 2008. Credit: Apple.
However, according to Richard Gardner, a financial analyst with Citigroup, Europe could soon see Apple finally shifting the iPhone towards 3G and away from its current reliance on the comparatively sub-standard EDGE network, reports Apple Insider.
A rollout of 3G would perhaps go against comments made by Apple CEO Steve Jobs during the UK launch of the iPhone at the tail end of 2007. At that time, Jobs outlined that 3G chips were was not an option for the iPhone due to them putting excessive demands on the handset’s battery.
However, Jobs also conceded at that time that 3G could eventually make an appearance via Apple’s diminutive touch-screen handset, with chip vendors expected to produce much more energy efficient, multimedia-capable 3G chips during 2008.
That time could be fast approaching according to Gardner, who offers that decreasing stock of the existing iPhone and increasing demand for 3G in Europe could see the iPhone embracing 3G technology in the region within six months.
“We believe that lack of 3G has been a significant headwind for iPhone in Europe where 3G is already pervasive,” outlined Gardner earlier this week in a research note.
The Citigroup analyst also suggested that Apple’s move toward 3G in Europe would provide a considerable boost for the company as it strives to hit its target of 10 million shipped iPhone units in 2008.
Gardner’s comments echo a similar 3G iPhone forecast made in December 2007 by Shaw Wu of American Technology Research. In his prediction for Apple’s handset, Wu offered that a 3G-enabled iPhone would arrive on the market in the second half of 2008, perhaps occupying a more high-end pricing while the existing EDGE model would remain a more mainstream option.
While it is more a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ for the European market, it remains to be seen whether the US region will also receive a 3G iPhone. That being said, Gardner’s prediction comes hot on the heels of AT&T (exclusive iPhone carrier in the US) revealing that it is expanding its 3G network coverage to include the country’s largest 100 cities.
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