The launch date of the fancied Apple iPhone 5 has once again become the hobby horse of gadget lovers and tech websites with a website called Macotakara reporting that the next generation iPhone will see light of the day only in the Spring of 2012 while the iPhone 4 S will be released in July or August.

That's quite some change in the release schedule, albeit the unofficial one, based on rumors and leaks. Earlier, it was reported widely that Apple would begin production of iPhone 5 in July and that the product could hit stores in September. Before that, the date was sometime in June this year!

However gadget market observers read the mind of Apple correctly to find out that the fabled iPhone 5 release won’t take place this June. For they gauged, correctly, that Apple wouldn’t use the WWDC platform for a hardware launch. It was mainly meant to be based on the software theme.

The gadget market had taken cues from Apple's statement in March which had said that the focus of the June conference of developers will be on iOS and Mac OS. “If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, had said.

And then, the focus turned to other possible launch date. Reuters reported in April that that Apple will begin production of the much-awaited device in July and that the product could hit stores in September.

Now, the latest buzz is that iPhone 5 will arrive next spring. There is no consensus as to why Apply is delaying the launch of its iPhone 5. However it would be safe to conclude that from a strategic point of view, two phone launches, spaced only by a few months, won’t be a good strategy. This could be the case if one assumes that reports of iPhone 4 S arrival in July turn out to be correct.

According to new rumors doing the rounds, the iPhone 4 S will have an 8 megapixel camera along with a SIM built-in design, which will not require SIM cards. It will also feature ARM technology in its Cortex A9 processor.