Back when the rumour mill was in full churn, the idea of two iPhone variants was floated – one for business and one for entertainment.  On announcement, of course, we saw only one and the rumour was forgotten.  However, news from casing manufacturer Quanta Computer indicates that the company has been contracted to put together five million iPhones for shipment in September to “different markets” from the original iPhone’s US launch. 

In a report from the Commercial Times, differentiation is drawn between the Quanta cellphones and those already ordered from Foxconn which should be delivered in time for the June US launch:

“The iPhone produced by Foxconn is designated for the US market, and those manufactured by Quanta will be similar in function to those from Foxconn but with a different outer design to fit different markets, the paper quoted sources at Taiwan-based component makers as saying” Digitimes

Perhaps a good mystery is just what the iPhone needs; after all, interest in the handset has been difficult to sustain at the heightened level Apple first experienced when the much-rumoured phone was finally announced.  No doubt questions will abound as to what will differentiate these two models (it could be as minor as tiny case differences), and whether they’ll be the handsets arriving for the European launch in Q4 2007.

iPhone Contracts, Different Outer Design? [MacRumors]