Apple is hiring sales staff for Autumn, hints at Iphone 5 launch date

SMARTPHONE AND TABLET VENDOR Apple is hiring a large number of Iphone sales specialists for the second half of August to the end of October, which strongly hints at the likely launch date of the much anticipated Iphone 5.

The full time positions are advertised by recruitment firm Gekko on job web site Reeds, with openings at Apple's stores in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. Pay is £75 per day.

Apple will provide training from 9 August to 12 August, while work will begin on 15 August and end on 29 October. Apple said applicants must be able to "commit to the period of the campaign", which hints at the possible time we'll see the next version of the Iphone hit the fruit themed shops.

If we look at the time period involved it seems likely that Apple will launch the Iphone 5 in early September, with a subsequent month of extra staffing to deal with high sales and a few weeks beforehand to get settled in.

This supports early rumours of a September release, both from Reuters and Digitimes. Digitimes suggested the Iphone 5 was not a major upgrade over the Iphone 4, but then neither was the Iphone 4 over the Iphone 3G.

We'll likely see a slightly faster processor, a better camera and an updated 4-inch screen. Whether or not that's worth the expensive price tag we can likely expect for the latest Apple toy remains to be seen.

The locations listed by Gekko for the positions are likely only some of a large number of openings that Apple will have for this period. Apple is probably hiring through multiple channels to beef up its work force for the Iphone 5 launch.

With the rise of Android and the many smartphones that pack a lot more under the bonnet than Apple's Iphones, Apple needs to keep up the momentum of releases to retain its market share.

A slight improvement over the Iphone 4's single-core 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor and 512MB of RAM just isn't going to cut it in the face of dual-core 2GHz processors in rival smartphones made by Samsung and HTC, two companies that Apple is involved in pitched legal battles with over alleged patent infringement.

One thing that Apple will have on its side is the fact that a lot of people go crazy for new Ithings, which should ensure strong early sales. This might not do much to increase Apple's market share, just as the Iphone 4 failed to boost it, according to Nielsen, but it might keep Apple in its current healthy position as one of the dominant players in the smartphone arena - until, perhaps, Android grows even more. µ