Verizon-compatible CDMA iPhone 4 rumored to be in production

Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes reported Thursday that Pegatron Technology has received orders from Apple for a CDMA iPhone 4, according to industry sources. Those orders are expected to help the company grow its revenues in 2011.

"Pegatron will also start shipping a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 to Apple in the fourth quarter and is currently using its plants in Shanghai, China to produce the products, the sources noted," the report said. "The company is also working on gaining orders for MacBooks and iPads from Apple."

Pegatron manufactures products in a number of markets, including notebook and desktop computers, TV set top boxes, cable modems, game consoles, LCD TVs, digital music players, handsets, tablet PCs and e-book readers.

The latest DigiTimes rumor supports a report from The Wall Street Journal in March, which said that Apple was working on two new phones: the iPhone 4, to be launched next week, and a new Verizon-compatible CDMA phone that the newspaper said would go into mass production in September. The Journal also reported that Pegatron Technology would handle the manufacturing of the CDMA iPhone.

In May, DigiTimes reported that Pegatron had won the contract from Apple to produce a CDMA iPhone. Previous iPhones were built by Foxconn, which also assembles Apple's Mac mini, iPods and the iPad, and is the company's main supplier.

But Foxconn has recently come under fire after a number of widely publicized employee suicides. The manufacturer has responded to the incident by saying it will increase wages for employees and may relocate some of its factories in China.