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Apple’s iPhone 4 will soon be succeeded by a faster model. (Fabrice Dimier/Bloomberg News) |
SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. will introduce a new iPhone Tuesday, the first upgrade of its best-selling product since Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive.
The new iPhone will include a better camera and faster processor, people familiar with the matter said earlier this year. Introduced in 2007, the iPhone accounts for about half of Apple’s revenue and has helped catapult Apple ahead of Exxon Mobil Corp. as the world’s most valuable company.
Jobs turned leadership of the company over to Tim Cook on Aug. 24.
The iPhone’s revamped operating system, called iOS 5, includes new notification and text-messaging systems.
Pent-up demand may help sales, said Maynard Um, an analyst at UBS Securities. Apple is unveiling a new model 16 months after the iPhone 4 debuted, compared with the 12 months between previous model updates. In addition to the stronger processor and improved camera, the new iPhone may have faster networking technology, improved graphics performance, and potentially be thinner and lighter, Um said.
This may be the last time Apple can wait so long between new iPhones as rivals including Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC Corp. introduce competing smartphones using Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
“A year and a half, especially in the smartphone product cycle, is many lifetimes,’’ said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw.
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