Supplier tapped for possible Verizon iPhone

Pegatron has been contracted to make a CDMA iPhone, insiders claimed today. The scoop is short but would have the ASUS manufacturing arm building phones that would likely go to Verizon and possibly other carriers as well. A deal would help Pegatron take off as a major supplier, DigiTimes said.

ASUS as a whole has already been responsible for manufacturing iPhones and some of Apple's other devices, including MacBooks.

When the phone would arrive wasn't immediately made evident, but GSM versions are already known to be in production thanks to newer device leaks. As Apple needs to build iPhones several weeks if not months in advance of its ship date in order to meet demand, production even if it started today likely wouldn't meet the widely anticipated mid-to-late June release. A number of rumors have claimed varying dates for a Verizon iPhone that could vary between late summer and the fall, possibly extending into early 2011.

Any CDMA phone wouldn't necessarily be tied solely to Verizon. Sprint and other, smaller CDMA carriers are eligible in the US. International shipments could also reach China Telecom, KDDI's Au service in Japan, and either SK Telecom or LG Telecom in Korea.

While the assertions could be inaccurate, an increasing number of rumors have pointed to Apple dropping its GSM-only policy and catering to the smaller but still significant cellular standard. Apple had once labeled CDMA a "dead" technology during a fiscal results call but is rumored to have had a change of heart after realizing that Verizon and most other CDMA carriers were unlikely or unable to move to the much more universal LTE standard for 4G as quickly as hoped.

By Electronista Staff