Apple may have delayed - or ramped up - production of iPhone 5S as rumour mill goes into overdrive

The silly season of rumours related to Apple's next generation iPhone is officially here. Two reports released on the same day claim diametrically opposite things as far as the production status of the iPhone 5S is concerned.

First up is a report from Bloomberg that quotes Taiwanese newspaper The Commercial Times, to say that Apple may delay the launch of the iPhone 5S until the end of the year after the design was changed to feature a bigger 4.3-inch display. This, the report claims, is a delay from the originally planned launch date of September or October.

However, the cheaper iPhone seems to be on track for a launch in Q3 this year, according to the Commercial Times report, after chips for the phone started shipping in June.

That brings us to the report in AllThingsD that quotes Jefferies analyst Peter Misek who suggests that while production ramp-up for the cheaper iPhone is indeed underway, Apple's manufacturing partners will also begin pumping out the iPhone 5S later this month, a contradiction to the report that Bloomberg cites.

Misek also shares his thoughts on the pricing of the cheaper iPhone.

Interestingly, Misek said that iPhone production ramp-up will follow one that's already under way for Apple's long-rumored lower-cost iPhone, a device he figures the company will price somewhere between $300 and $400 - without a subsidy. He estimates production plans at 25 million to 30 million units, split pretty much evenly across the 5s and its new lower-cost sibling. And he said the new entry probably won't be competitive with the truly low-end handsets popular in emerging markets.