Phab-u-less: Huge MONSTER iPhone 6 not due until 2015 – claim

An analyst has now foretold that the iPhone 6 – an enlarged "phablet" style device – will not be sold until next year. That's the same chap who warned that Apple's long-rumored iWatch won't appear until Christmas this year.

Most industry watchers expected the 5.5-inch model to be revealed along with the standard 4.7-inch one in September, in keeping with Apple's regular release cycle.

But tech crystal ball-gazer Ming-Chi Kuo has published a note speculating that problems with the touch panel and the colouring of the larger case could push the release back to early next year.

He wrote:

We think the 5.5-inch model will also have issues with the yield rate of in-cell touch panel and color unevenness of metal casing. Indeed, these problems will likely be even more complicated with a larger size. In addition, from a technical perspective, we don’t expect sapphire cover, used for the first time on the 5.5-inch model, will easily pass the drop test near term. We are conservative about 5.5-inch iPhone launching by end-2014. Even if the product is launched in 2014, it is likely to take place after mid-4Q14, which is later than the September-October of consensus, with shipments being lower than consensus of 15- 20mn units.

In non-corporate speak, that basically means there's no chance of seeing a bigger iPhone before November. Even if we do see it then, there will be fewer phones shipped than previously expected.

Models of the iPhone 6 have been leaking recently, but most of them have been standard 4.7-inch models, such as this alleged iPhone which withstood the attentions of a knife-wielding maniac.

So what should we call this new mega iPhone? The GiPhone? The HiGHPhone? Or do you think the whole thing is just a LiEPhone and we won't actually ever see a bigger fruity mobe? ®