AT&T executives are apparently talking up an October release of the iPhone 5, confirming earlier talk that the launch of the next generation phone from Apple would come later than many had initially expected.

AllThingsD was one of the first news outlets to report on an October launch date. No reasoning was given, but it indicated that reports of a two week blackout for employee vacations in late September was not related to the iPhone 5 launch.

It could be that employees will be working overtime for the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S2, an Android device that is widely expected to sell well once it releases late next month. That may be what the unnamed VP cited by Boy Genius Report was alluding to in his comments.

"Expect things to get really, really busy in the next 35-50 days, so prepare your teams accordingly," he said in a note to managers. That time frame would put the period in question from September 23 to October 8.

The S2 is rumored to be launching September 22, and the October 8 date seems to match with a report from TiPb, which said Apple was hoping it would be able to start shipping the device on Friday, October 7.

Either way, what is still missing is any announcement of a press event where the iPhone 5 would make its debut. BGR claims that such an event would come in late September. Using past history, that probably means we wouldn't hear about an announcement of such an event until early September at the earliest.