Apple to ship 5-6M Verizon iPhones in Q1 2011

The company is rumored to have increased its overall iPhone shipment to 20-21M units

Apple is gearing up to ship 20-21 million iPhones next quarter, an increase of 1-2 million from the company’s previous goal of 19 million units, according to unnamed sources with Taiwan-based component suppliers who spoke to DigiTimes.  Among those shipments will be the CDMA iPhones for Verizon, set at 5-6 million units.

The sources added that global iPhone shipments for Q4 2010 are estimated at some 15.5 million units, up more than one million units since the previous quarter, when the company sold 14.1 million iPhones.  Q3 2010 saw one of the steepest climbs, selling 8.4 million more iPhones than Q2.  In all, if the company has, indeed, sold 15.5 million units this quarter, Apple’s iPhone sales will total 47 million units sold for the entire year.

The company has adapted accordingly, adjusting its shipment order for next quarter for some 15 million WCDMA units (iPhones for AT&T) rather than the previously planned 13 million.

The reports fall in line with previous reports that the Verizon-compatible iPhone would be manufactured in late 2010 for release in the first-quarter 2011.  The Wall Street Journal published similar reports in October, noting also that Apple and Verizon had battled over whether Verizon would be allowed to sell the iPhone through its retail partners.

Apple and Verizon has allegedly been meeting with Apple to add capacity and test its networks in preparation for the barrage of new iPhone users who will be flocking to Verizon, WSJ reported.

At an October press conference, President Lowell McAdam responded to a question as to whether Verizon would begin carrying the iPhone: "At some point our business interests are going to align," he said, in reference to Apple. "I fully expect it, but I don't have anything to say."

While Foxconn is the sole maker of the WCDMA iPhones, it has shared that role with Pegatron Technology in the production of the CDMA iPhones, sources told DigiTimes.

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