A Bank of America analyst is the latest to indicate that Apple will release the 3G version of its iPhone sometime in the second quarter of the year. The client note indicated that a significant production build of a 3G iPhone would take place in June after a small build in May. The prediction is based on some channel checks rather than mysterious Asian sources.
Meanwhile, Gartner was backtracking from a story that broke earlier in the week where one of its analysts reported that Apple had already placed a 10 million unit order with suppliers for the 3G iPhone. Gartner now indicates that it does not know whether Apple has in fact placed the order but that it believes that the next generation iPhone would come with 3G capabilities.
If nothing else, the frenzy that surrounds the 3G iPhone seems to be reaching the same proportions as the one that preceded the release of the first iPhone.