Could Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL, stock) be gearing for the release of second generation lower-cost iPhone based on the popular iPod nano? At least JP Morgan believes so, and it’s sooner than you can guess – possibly fourth quarter of 2007.

Kevin Chang, a JP Morgan analyst based in Taiwan, cited people in the supply channel he did not name and an application with the U.S Patent and Trademark office for his report dated July 8. Kevin was referring to the patent application document dated July 5 that refers to a multifunctional handheld device with a circular touch pad control, similar to the Nano’s scroll wheel.

Chang said the new cheaper version of iPhone could be priced at $300 or lower, compare to current price range of $500 to $600 (depending on storage). An iPhone based on iPod nano size could trim the features but that’s the only way to bring down the costs. It was estimated that sales of between 30 and 40 million (Steve Jobs expecting 10 million pieces sales for 2008) are “achievable” if Apple has a less expensive iPhone.

If everything goes accordingly, the new iPhone could have a converted click wheel that adjusts its functions based on context, such as reverting from the traditional circular scrolling motions to tapping out phone numbers on different sections of the wheel during the calling process. No touchscreen is included in the concept paper. Taiwan’s Catcher Technology would definitely benefits if it indeed materializes as it will be the “major source of metal casing” for the new phone. Kevin estimated revenue from Apple could represent T$6 billion ($183 million) to T$8 billion ($244 million) revenue for Catcher in 2008.

Hence, there’re two stocks which you should pay attention to, Taiwan’s Catcher Technology and Apple Inc., of course. Did you see how Apple stock price jumped more than 2 percent this morning’s trading? Could be due to the iPhone Nano speculation? Nevertheless I hope Apple would think twice about tying-up customers with AT&T.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Red Dots for iPhones all over the States
• First Stock Rise since iPhone Launch – 96% Profit
• Apple to Sell 1 million iPhones before end of 2007
• APPLE iPhone Sales Top US$100 Million on Day-1?
• June 29th – Apple iPhone’s Judgement Day

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July 10th, 2007 by financetwitter

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