Jonathan Richards reports for the Times Online: “Times Online understands that Apple has placed an order with its Asian suppliers to produce 200,000 of the new 3G iPhones by the end of May, rising to 2 million – 500,000 per week – in June,” Richards goes on to report, “With a four week lead time between production and placement, that would leave Mr Jobs free to launch the device during an annual developers conference at which he usually speaks.”

Furthermore, the Times Online reporter says: “Industry sources told Times Online that the device will have a ‘radically different’ appearance to the current device, which has a 4.5 inch screen and slick, aluminium backing. Among the possibilities are flip version, which would enable the screen to be larger, and a sliding model with a regular qwerty keyboard – as opposed to a touch-screen one. ‘I think ultimately you going to see multiple versions,’ one Asia-based analyst, said. ‘One for customers who want it principally as a music and video device, which will be similar to the existing model, one for people who want to communicate – with the keyboard, and one for people who want it as a substitute for their laptop – that will let them browse the internet on a larger screen.”

Finally, Richards goes on to report: “The new phone may also usher in a change in the way Apple strikes distribution deals,” Richards reports. “Kathryn Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley specializing in Apple, suggested that Apple will eventually break with its policy of favoring one network to be the exclusive distributor of the iPhone in a given territory – possibly as early as next year.”

Nice report that, so expect to see some changes with the new Apple iPhone 3G handset when it arrives.

Full report can be found here