SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Apple said Wednesday it's "working to replenish" iPhone supplies at its U.S. stores, which two investment analysts believe are either out of the combination phone and digital media player, or lack necessary parts.
The alleged U.S.-only iPhone shortage is fueling speculation a new, third-generation version will be introduced as soon as next week, or that there's a crimp in the iPhone component supply chain.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster in a note to clients this week, said iPhones couldn't be found at Apple's hundreds of U.S. retail stores.
Meanwhile, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi, in a note, sees a parts constraint as being the reason for the shortage.
"We are working to replenish iPhone supplies as quickly as we can," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday in response to those notes. "Our stores continue to receive shipments of iPhone almost every day."
He would not elaborate.
Munster believes the shortage signals the imminent arrival of a version of the iPhone capable of downloading web pages at wired broadband speeds. Present-day iPhones' Internet access is akin to the slowest of wired Internet connections.
A 3G iPhone should appeal to a broader set of business road warriors, which Apple began courting in a direct challenge to Research In Motion's dominant BlackBerry. The new iPhone would also better suit the more sophisticated wireless tastes of Asian cellphone patrons. Apple said it plans to begin selling the iPhone in Asia this year.
Piper's Munster, on Tuesday, reminded his clients in a research note that when Apple products disappear from stores, an update of that same product often follows in a few days. Given that history, Munster sees an 80% chance that Apple will soon introduce an iPhone for 3G cellphone networks.
Sacconaghi believes there's only an outside chance of a new 3G iPhone. He more strongly believes there's been a shortage of iPhone components constricting supply.
This view has been backed up by some Apple bloggers detailing their own findings, based on unnamed sources.
Apple shares recently fell 83 cents to $148.68 while those of Research In Motion rose 54 cents to $118.
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Posted to the site on 2nd April 2008
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