Rumor: Apple has ordered 4 million new iPhones?

Apple apparently has ordered the manufacturing of 4 million of the next generation of iPhones, according to the Commercial Times, a Chinese newspaper. The shipping is scheduled for the end of this trimester, more precisely June, which could probably mean that the units would arrive on the stores in the first days of July. A formal launch of the new iPhone should be anticipated at the WWDC 09 in San Francisco, scheduled for June 8th.

The newspaper reports that at least 3 different iPhone models were ordered to the Chinese assembling companies. The main one is a 3G device with all the updated components; together with that model, another one that seems to have only EDGE protocol and costing less than the top one. The third model would be aimed only for the Chinese market, without Wi-Fi and with TD-SCDMA support.

The news from the Chinese newspaper differs from the estimatives from Kaufman Bros. The research group suggests that 3.7 million iPhones could be sold in June as part of lot of 5-6 million pieces. The Institute also says that only 2 of the 3 iPhone models should be available in June, and claims that the Chinese-only market model is still at a developing phase that would make it too early for a June launch.

We’ll label all this information as rumors until we get official confirmation, of course.