Folks at ChinaOntrade, the online Chinese wholesaler website, who had earlier successfully leaked iPhone 3GS parts weeks before the actual release and also recently in news for leaking pics of what they claim is the SIM tray of the fourth generation iPhone/iTablet are at it again. 

The website now claims to be stocking a fourth generation iPhone midboard which they say has been procured from Foxconn, the OEM who supplies these parts to Apple for the iPhone. While it is not possible to verify the veracity of the claims, it surely raises doubts about when the next iPhone is actually going to be launched. 

From what is known officially from Apple, the launch of the next generation of iPhone is at least eight months away from now. If ChinaOnTrade’s claims about this new part is true, then there is definitely something that does not meet the eye. As folks from Gizmodo report, with the official launch date of iPhone 4 generation handset months away, it does not make logisitcal sense for Apple to have already started the production run. Looking at this from another perspective, if the production run has actually begun, then it could also be possible that the launch of the fourth generation iPhone is much closer than what we think. 

Gizmodo speculates this advance in scheduling could also be partly due to the sudden spurt in media interest over the Android 2.0 handsets, a few of which are being launched this Christmas season. But that does seems to be a bit far-fetched considering that Apple wouldn’t want to rush through the testing procedures and end up launching a bug-ridden iPhone. Also, nobody is still sure if Android 2.0 handsets like Droid will actually live up to the hype and expectations surrounding them. So, unless Apple had orginally planned for a holiday season launch, an iPhone 4G launch next month seems unlikely.

Nevertheless, it is still interesting to speculate if this part revealed by ChinaOntrade can indeed be part of the new generation iPhone. Do you think the rumor is true? Please tell us in the comments. 

[via | iPhone Hacks]