The iPhone Shortage - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

See the full post for more speculation

There is a shortage of iPhones in Apple’s stores in the United States. And there is a surplus of frenzied speculation about what this means. Many wonder whether Apple is closing out of its existing stock in order to clear the way for new models, possibly with the ability to connect to faster 3G networks.

Gene Munster, the analyst at Piper Jaffray, said that of the possible explanations for the shortage there is an “80 percent chance that a new version of the iPhone is coming earlier than anticipated.”

In the meantime, it looks like RIM is doing just fine -- from a NYT article titled "BlackBerry's Maker Beats Forecasters" this morning:

Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, reported a fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday that more than doubled and topped analysts’ estimates as the company added more than two million subscribers.

[...]

The BlackBerry accounted for 41 percent of United States shipments for e-mail phones in the fourth quarter, according to the British research firm Canalys. The iPhone had 28 percent and Palm, the maker of the Treo, had 9 percent.

The iPhone Shortage - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog