Apple plans biggest iPhone yet for 2018

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc is preparing to release three new smartphones later this year, including the largest iPhone ever, a device that may have a bigger display than arch-rival Samsung´s flagship phone, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the products.

The trio also includes an upgraded handset the same size as the current iPhone X and a less expensive model with some of the X´s key features.

The new phones could revive the screen size wars of years past at a time when smartphone makers are straining to come up with new features to lure buyers in a saturated market.

Global smartphone sales were down 0.1 percent last year, according to research firm IDC, with Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd expanding shipments only 1.9 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

The iPhone maker is already running production tests with suppliers and is expected to announce the new phones this fall.

However, the plans could still change, the report said. Apple declined to comment. Its shares were up almost 2 percent at $178.95 in midday trade.

Earlier in the day, billionaire Warren Buffett talked up his company´s stake in the iPhone maker, which also helped boost shares.

Bloomberg reported the largest iPhone could have a screen of close to 6.5 inches (16.5 cm), larger than the 6.2-inch (15.75 cm) Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus announced on Monday in Barcelona, Spain, and larger than the current Samsung Note 8´s 6.3-inch screen.

Samsung traditionally announces new Note series devices in the fall, so it is possible it might launch a larger screen around the same time Apple´s new models hit the market.

But Bob O´Donnell, head of Technalysis Research, said the reported trio of new iPhones was "a very logical extension of the product line" for Apple: "One bigger, one cheaper, and one upgrade to the existing iPhone X. "The Cupertino-based company earlier this month forecast disappointing revenue of $60 billion to $62 billion for its fiscal second quarter ending in March, with a number of media reports pointing to slack demand for iPhone X after unit sales failed to meet expectations in the run-up to Christmas.