It is highly likely that Apple will build the 4.8-inch iPhone 6 and the large-screen iOS 7 smartphone will hit the market as planned, its release date probably to happen in the months within Q1 2014.

Production of the iPhone 6 should go smoothly, according to Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, as component requirements for the device are readily available. In fact, the tech giant may not have to spend too much in the assembly of the next-generation, Mr Misek added, that is if most of the parts will be purchased from Samsung.

The Galaxy maker is expected to offer solid prices for its device component offerings, meaning firms like Apple will have access to cheaper iPhone parts, which should ensure that the iPhone 5S successor will be reality in the early months of 2014 minus the usual delay troubles.

Ironically, Apple fans will have to thank the Galaxy S4 for somehow contributing, unwillingly of course, to Apple's efforts of delivering its first phablet - complete with the planned features and as swift as possible.

In his new note, Mr Misek claimed that the GS4 will likely missed the mark set by Samsung for its Q3 2013 sales performance.

The direct consequence is Samsung would be compelled to keep its current component pricing or press it down a bit in order to assure of maintaining Apple as one of its major clients.

"Galaxy S4 sales missed internal targets leading Samsung to not raise foundry prices for Apple like we expected," Mr Misek was quoted by Business Insider in a report.

Why Samsung would resort to such move? It's all about business, analysts said. The South Korean tech giant has set a revenue target and pleasing a big account like that of Apple would allow it to patch up the lower returns coming from its GS4 push.

So as the GS4 starts to falter the iPhone 6 star shines, all the more cementing the speculations that finally Apple is crashing into the phablet competition, which has become a lucrative segment of the mobile device market.

So profitable is the giant-screen smartphone field that as of the latest accounting, about half of the brand new mobile phones that were snapped up by consumers bear screens that dwarf the 4-inch iPhone 5S, Mr Misek said.

With the strong hints that it is unable to attract some 50 per cent of smartphone shoppers in recent months, Apple is likely to correct the anomaly by giving what consumers want - a stretched iPhone screen, the analyst added.

In doing so, the tech giant is likely to pick 4.8-inch screen as the sweet spot for its own take on the phablet business, Mr Misek said, citing Asian gadget suppliers as his source.

The iPhone 6 is also expected to feature a wraparound screen, a LiquidMetal casing, an A8 64-bit CPU and a quad-core GPU on its 2014 release date.