Analyst: No 5.5-inch iPhone Until 2015

Analyst: No 5.5-inch iPhone 6 this fallIf you're planning on picking up a 5.5-inch iPhone 6 this fall, you may be in for a wait. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the rumored big screen iPhone is coming, but most likely won't show up on store shelves this year because Apple can't get parts in the quantities it needs.

Mr. Kuo told investors Apple is dealing with in-cell touch panel issues as well as body coloring problems. "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," he said. "Indeed, these problems will likely be even more complicated with a larger size."

He isn't overly confident about Apple's rumored sapphire glas display, either, saying, "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."

Apple is rumored to be working on a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch version for the next iPhone. A video showing what looks like a legit 4.7-inch sapphire glass iPhone surface recently hit the Internet, but so far the 5.5-inch glass hasn't been making the rounds.

That could be mean the bigger model is delayed, or that Apple isn't working on releasing it this year -- if at all. It's possible Apple planned a staggered product rollout, which seems unlikely, or the the 5.5-inch model wasn't part of the company's 2014 product release schedule.

Mr. Kuo said he's expecting Apple to ship between 15 million and 20 million iPhone 6 units when it launches, and that could happen later than the late September to early October release window analysts are expecting. Apple hasn't confirmed any features for the next iPhone yet, but the company's usual release schedule means we'll likely see an update in mid or late September.