Apple is ramping up production of its iPhone, increasing global shipments for the first quarter of 2011 from 19 million units to 20-21 million units, according to Digitimes.

      Apple supplier Foxconn is shipping about 14-15 million WDCMA iPhones, up from 13 million. Foxconn and Pegatron Technology are also shipping 5-6 million CDMA iPhones. These devices are expected to launch in Asia Pacific and the U.S. (on Verizon) in early 2011.

      Global iPhone shipments for the fourth quarter of 2010 are suspected to be at 15.5 million, with Apple's 2010 iPhone shipments coming in at 47 million for the year.

      In a Monday analyst note, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said his firm is forecasting 13.3 million iPhone unit sales in the first quarter of 2011, though those estimates do not include a Verizon iPhone.

      If the Digitimes 5-6 million CDMA iPhone numbers are correct, "these are big numbers and directly point to the growing popularity of the iPhone around the world in our view and the potential for healthy upside to our earnings estimates," White wrote.

      During a recent trip to China, White said he saw signs that demand for the iPhone 4 was exceeding supply. "For example, we indicated that the iPhone 4 was sold out for two months at authorized Apple resellers, Apple stores and China Unicom," he said. "We also mentioned that China Unicom was unable to fulfill approximately one-third of the iPhone 4 orders due to shortages."

      Earlier this month, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu predicted that Apple will ship 62 million iPhones in 2011, with Verizon contributing 2-3 million units in the U.S. per quarter, or 8-12 million annually. Later, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said that Apple could sell an additional 2.5 million iPhones next year by adding Verizon Wireless as a carrier.

Source from PCMag