Apple Doubles Down on iPhone

Apple's (AAPL) outlook has grown even rosier on iPhone sales this year.

The Cupertino, Calif., tech shop has now prepared plans to nearly double its iPhone production in the fourth quarter, say people familiar with the company. The plan calls for the manufacture of 2.7 million iPhones next quarter, up from the 1.54 million originally targeted, these people say.

An Apple representative declined to comment, but the news comes a day after TheStreet.com reported that Apple was boosting production based on a projected resurgence in iPhone demand.

On Tuesday, Apple announced that Telefonica's U.K. wireless unit O2 would be an exclusive sales partner for the iPhone. The introduction of Apple's first European partner comes three weeks earlier than expected and gives the company more optimism and more time to sell phones this year, say observers.

A steep price cut earlier this month also didn't hurt sales. Apple announced last week that it had sold its millionth phone.

Apple's manufacturing plans now call for 4.8 million iPhones to be produced this year, up from the 3.6 million previously targeted, the sources close to the company say.

Apple has waffled on its production planning in the past two months as it tries to predict consumer demand in this new market for the tech giant.

Sales of the iPhone have been solid, but given the expectations built into Apple's stock, there has been much debate about whether the numbers have been strong enough.

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