Apple is known to be a company that always shrouds into mystery its upcoming services and products but it appears its partners have not taken Apples vow of secrecy. Ali Al Ahmad, Chief Corporate Communication Officer of Etisalat let the cat out of the bag by stating that the carrier is preparing to launch a 4G iPhone 5 in the United Arab Emirates in 2011.
Yes, we are in talks with most smartphone manufacturers including Apple on the rollout of the 4G handset, iPhone 5 later this year. As the first telecom organization to roll out the 4G network, LTE, in the Middle East, we have already started talking to them for the handsets and chipsets in them, he revealed.
Etisalat has quickly denied the statement, possibly because they realized the blunder or maybe Apple has put some pressure on them.
Etisalat would like to clarify that the Corporation is in talks with a number of manufacturers to bring the latest LTE-compatible devices to the UAE [...] whenever they become available from the manufacturer, after Etisalats official launch of LTE in Q3, 2011. [...] At no point did Etisalat confirm that any new iPhone device will be launched in 2011.
Ali Al Ahmads previous statement could be just a bluff for three reasons. First of all, he would not be allowed to reveal such confidential information, secondly Apple has not yet perfected the 4G technology required and thirdly, most analysts suggest that Apples upcoming smartphone is codenamed iPhone 4S.
Moreover, the 4G network is not that developed so as to allow Apple to mass produce a 4G iPhone and the tech giant would prefer to delay the launch until it has perfected the hardware and carriers have build out the 4G network.
By Radu Tyrsina
