According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Apple plans to begin mass producing a new iPhone by the end of 2010.

The new model would allow Verizon Wireless to sell the smartphone early next year, the publication says, quoting “people briefed by Apple”.

Details on the new iPhone are virtually non-existent, though it’s tipped to be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold exclusively by AT&T in the US but based on alternative wireless technology called CDMA.

“Separately, Apple is also developing a new iPhone model, said people briefed on the matter,” adds WSJ.

This fifth-generation iPhone will “be a different form factor” to what we have seen so far. No further details were available and Apple wouldn’t officially comment on the story.