The next-generation of Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone smartphone may debut this June, a tech site reported.
Mashable said a recruiter at Taiwan-based Foxconn told TV Tokyo's "World Business Satellite" they need 18,000 employees to make the next iPhone.
"We’re looking for 18,000 employees … for the fifth-generation phone," Mashable quoted the recruiter as saying in the interview.
It added that when the TV Tokyo reporter clarified that the recruiter was talking about the iPhone 5, they said the next-generation iPhone will come out in June.
On the other hand, it remains unclear if the next iPhone would be called the iPhone 5.
Should the next iPhone be released this June, it would actually be the sixth since the first iPhone was released in 2007.
After the original iPhone, Apple released the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S.
However, Mashable noted the June rumor "should be taken with a grain of salt" as rumors of the iPhone 5 started almost immediately after the announcement of the iPhone 4S last year.
"Current rumors have the device’s launch pinned between June and October, with many speculating that the next generation will be LTE-capable to run on carrier’s new speedy data networks,"
