In the following video, Fool tech/telecom analyst Andrew Tonner talks about the prospects of a new iPhone from Apple this summer.

By analysts' reports, the next iPhone launch may well occur well ahead of the usual September smartphone launches from Apple. One questionable source, China's DigiTimes, suggests a release as early as May, Andrew says.

That makes sense, though, since one of the main tech stories recently has been the launch of Samsung's Galaxy S4. Apple's never had as much pressure on it to introduce products, and introduce products very, very soon, Andrew says.

He adds that because the biggest growth areas for smartphones are in emerging markets, introducing a cheaper iPhone would allow Apple to address needs in those markets, where income is much lower than developed markets, while still keeping up gross margins.

So Apple may well introduce a new phone earlier than it traditionally would, and earlier than investors and consumers had expected. See more in the following video.