iPhone rumors broke loose yesterday like a competitive eater at Vegas buffet. Craziness doesn’t even begin to describe the unbridled fury and pace with the rumors spread.

The short of it? Apple’s ordering up CDMA chips from Qualcomm for Verizon’s own iPhone and production is ramping right now. Adding to the fire is even a scheduled release date: January 2011, which is a mere few months away.

Need more? Rumor mill sources point to Qualcomm running low on inventory after Apple gobbled up all their CDMA chips.

So, is it gonna happen?

At this point, anything is possible. We’re hearing from insiders at ATT that folks over there have been pretty pissed off at Apple lately. ATT’s not too pleased with Apple throwing them under the ol’ 10 ton bus with regards to signal strength and quality.

Even those down at 1 Infinite Loop have a heck of time getting 3G coverage. If you ever go down there, you might spot a few ATT vans parked in a back parking lot. You know, the kind of wireless vans with big antennas that you see at major trade events as wireless carriers beef up network strength? Along with the newly planted antenna trees down there disguised in faux-green foliage.

Consider that most every country in the world has multiple carriers for iPhone, it’s been just a matter of time before it happened here. It probably would’ve happened faster if more wireless companies here were GSM.

I’ve long pegged 2012 as the year that Verizon gets the iPhone (along with the end of the world as we know it), but January 2011 at least seems like a possibility.

Why? Verizon’s launch of 4G starts at the end of 2010 and early 2011 with a more widespread roll-out by 2012. I’ve long held that a 4G iPhone on Verizon makes so much more sense than just a 3G capable me-too CDMA device on Verizon. I can’t see Apple doing it, unless they’re really that pissed off at ATT.

And, I’ll throw in two more bits into the rumor fire: A September 30th hard stop for free bumpers along with Apple’s track record of rolling out new, potentially game changing stuff in January.

The hard stop on free bumpers always had me wondering just what Apple’s cooking for users after that date. A hardware update perhaps? If that’s the case, then a refresh for iPhone seems to make sense, so why not roll out a CDMA (or even 4G) device into the production plan? And January? Apple’s big products like Macbook Air and iPad all had January announcements.

The rumors right now, seem plausible and not so far fetched. Timing wise, it works perfectly for me as my Droid phone is getting pretty beat up these days and I’d be eligible for a new phone by then.

As with anything in rumors, take it with a tub of kosher salt.

(Editor’s Note: The folks over at PCWorld have done a great job at breaking it down. Worth checking out)

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