Speculation around the imminent arrival of Apple’s new iPhone 5 continues to dominate the headlines as latest reports suggest that Apple is planning to launch a lower-cost version of the current model in Asia and has signed up US number-three operator Sprint to carry the iPhone 5.

Reuters reports that Asian suppliers have begun making a lower-cost version of the iPhone 4 with a smaller 8-GB flash drive that will arrive around the same time Apple unveils its successor.

Both China Mobile and China Telecom are thought to be interested in offering the cut-price model.

"Apple may want to push into the emerging market segment, where customers want to switch to low- to mid-end smartphones from high-end feature phones, which usually cost US$150 to US$200," Yuanta Securities analyst Bonnie Chang told Reuters.

Apple has not commented on the speculation and it is not yet known which suppliers the firm is working with. Apple currently sources its flash drives from Toshiba and Samsung, though the latter also declined to comment.

The iPhone 4 (pictured) was first launched in June 2010 in 16-GB and 32-GB versions. The 8-GB version is expected within weeks, sources say.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that Sprint will begin selling the iPhone 5 in “mid-October,” slightly later than the September timeframe currently being touted for the device’s launch.  Larger rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T – which both already offer the iPhone 4 – will start selling the same device at the same time, according to sources. 

A deal with Apple would be a fillip for Sprint, which has seen a slump in contract subscribers in recent quarters, which it has blamed partly on its two larger rivals offering the iconic Apple device. As a rival CDMA-based operator, Sprint is likely to offer the same version of the device offered by Verizon Wireless. The US market-leader sold 4.5 million iPhones in the first half of this year; AT&T sold 7.2 million over the same period.