The high expectations for next week's WWDC gathering in San Francisco may result in disappointment for a lot of onlookers, argues Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. Although no longer talking about a postponed iPhone announcement, Munster notes that even if new hardware is announced at WWDC, it may be unlikely to ship until mid-July, much like the iPhone 3G in 2008. Other commentators have also called for a $99 iPhone, but it is thought that a more realistic low end could be $149.

AT&T may be willing to provide cheaper data plans, but the chances of this happening are said to be only 25 percent.

Munster also proposes that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will not appear during the keynote speech, despite some hopes for a walk-on. The company's demonstration of Mac OS X Snow Leopard could likewise have "limited wow-factor," Munster says, despite the software being nearly finished and ready to launch later this summer. Many features have already leaked to the public.

More pessimistic in one regard is Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner, who contends that Apple will the delay the announcement of new iPhones for several weeks. A significant backlog of iPhone 3Gs remains, which Apple may be eager to dispose of. While Munster is persisting with a stock target of $180, however, Reiner is raising his projection from $140 to $160.