Apple shares gain after new iPhone launch date is revealed

In late morning trade, Apple shares were up 2.04 percent at $463.88.

The Dow Jones news website AllThingsD reported Sunday that Apple scheduled an event next month where it will announce its newest iPhone in an effort to regain ground lost to Samsung and other smartphone makers.

Details were not clear, but speculation has centered around whether Apple would shift its strategy to include a lower-cost handset to appeal to more consumers, especially in emerging markets.

(Also see: iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C names 'confirmed', next generation iPhone to have fingerprint reader, Gold colour variant: Report)

Trip Chowdhry, analyst at Global Equities Research, said Apple appeared to be preparing "to declare thermo-nuclear war on Android," referring to the Google mobile operating system which has become dominant in the smartphone market.

Chowdhry said the launch "may be massively successful and probably one of the most successful launches."

"If Apple launches a cheaper iPhone, Apple will immediately gain market share against Android, as in many parts of the world, consumers are not well informed and are buying Android phones thinking that they are buying a cheaper iPhone," he said in a note to clients.

A recent IDC survey showed Apple's share of the global smartphone market slipped to 13.2 percent in the second quarter, from 16.6 percent a year ago, while Android's share rose to 79.3 percent.