Will Apple respond to Samsung with an iPhone 5S?

With the Samsung Galaxy S4 ready to launch on Thursday, will Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) respond with an iPhone 5S?

That is the question being asked by a number of tech pundits and Wall Street analysts.

Apple has responded with "S" versions of its iPhone, rather than a fully new version, in the past. In 2009, it released the iPhone 3GS and in 2011 the iPhone 4S. So, it's now 2013 and Samsung is ramping up the pressure on Apple. Will the iPhone 5S be coming this summer?

Apple tends to release its new phones, whether full overhauls or "S" versions, during a window that begins in June and ends in October, according to a report by iMore.

"Keeping the same design for two years allows Apple tremendous economies of scale, and instead of funding an entirely new phone every year, they can spend their resources on making the same phone better for the same price. That's theoretically good for everyone. However, holding to the same design also limits what Apple can do to make the iterative iPhone 'better'," the report explained.

Competitors tend to take advantage of the "off" year for the iPhone, iMore related.

Glen Yeung of Citigroup was quoted by MarketWatch as saying, "I really doubt it is a coincidence that Samsung is launching in a quarter [when] there is nothing coming from Apple."

Meanwhile, details of the Samsung Galaxy S4 have been leaked. The new Galaxy is expected to have a 5-inch screen, compared to iPhone's 4-inch screen, a 13-megapixel camera and an eye-scroll feature to track the motion of eyeballs and adjust the text accordingly.

Earlier this year, Samsung applied for an "eye scroll" trademark in both Europe and the United States, according to a report by the New York Times.

In its U.S. trademark application, Samsung described the technology as software "having a feature of sensing eye movements and scrolling displays of mobile devices, namely, mobile phones, smartphones and tablet computers according to eye movements; digital cameras; mobile telephones; smartphones; tablet computers," the report noted.

All of this is not expected to be good news for Apple's stock. Jefferies & Co. analyst Peter Misek cut his price target on Apple's stock to $420 per share from $500 per share, and put a "hold" rating on the stock. On Tuesday, Apple's stock dropped from a high of $438.67 to $428.43 per share at the close of trading, continuing its downward trend in overnight trading.

For more:
- check out the iMore report
- read the New York Times article
- see the MarketWatch report

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