Analyst publishes predicted Apple 2013 roadmap

An analyst for KGI Securities, Ming-Chi Kuo, has released a roadmap of his predictions for Apple's product launches in 2013.

MacRumors states that Kuo has 'a very good track record in predicting Apple's product plans' and his new predictions suggest we'll see multiple iPhone models launched this year as well as a new iPad Mini and full size iPad.

Kuo predicts we won't see a new iPhone until the third quarter of the year, but we will see both and iPhone 5S and another iPhone 5 model with a 'new design'.

He claims the iPhone 5S will look like the current iPhone 5 but with a new A7 chipset and some other hardware tweaks such as the camera aperture.

Meanwhile the iPhone 5 redesign will apparently be the rumoured budget model made from plastic with a thicker chassis and multiple colour options. The report suggests the budget iPhone 5 will cost around half as much as the premium model.

Kuo believes both handsets will arrive at the beginning of Q3 with the iPhone 5S slightly in front. June or July are pegged as the months to watch.

Around the same time Kuo also thinks we'll see a fifth-generation iPad with a thinner and lighter body and with a thinner bezel like the iPad Mini. Shortly afterwards he expects there'll be an iPad Mini 2 in the middle of the quarter with a Retina display.

In related news, Bloomberg reports that former Apple CEO John Sculley has stated his belief that the company should push ahead with a budget iPhone.

'Apple needs to adapt to a very different world. As we go from $500 smartphones to even as low, for some companies, as $100 for a smartphone, you’ve got to dramatically rethink the supply chain and how you can make these products and do it profitably,' he said.

Sculley alleged that Apple's competitors, particularly Samsung, had done a good job of closing the gap in the last few years:

'Samsung is an extraordinarily good competitor. The differentiation between a Samsung Galaxy and an iPhone 5 is not as great as we used to see.'