Apple is planning to release the iPhone 5 this fall, probably in September or October and the same calendar will be kept in the next few years as well.
In the past Apple preferred to release new iPhone models at the beginning of the summer, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS arriving in June and July. This has changed with the release of iPhone 4S, which was released last October.
The info provided by Japanese blog Macotakara are contradicted by analysts like Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray and others, who say that the iPhone 5 will be released during the summer.
Normally, Apple releases a new iPod version in the fall, but considering the drop in sales of this product and the relatively small progresses made with the 2010 model, Apple might choose to make consumers look into more interesting products.
Actually, October 2011 was dedicated to the release of a iPhone smartphone.
To release of the iPhone 4S smartphone in October helped Apple get record sales during the winter holidays.
In the mean time, the iPhone 4S sales are doing just fine, bringing a lot of profit to Apple. Under these conditions, the release of a new iPhone smartphone in less than one year since the previous version is not financially justified as they risk compromising the sales of the current iPhone smartphone and annoy people who just purchased a iPhone 4S smartphone.