The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg has retracted earlier comments that he expected a 3G iPhone to be on the market within two months.

In a discussion last month at the Finnish Embassy Mossberg, who has excellent contacts within Apple, said that he was expecting a 3G iPhone within 60 days. But after the comments sparked fevered speculation he retracted them.

"If I knew when this date was, why would I announce it in the middle of a sentence at the Finnish Embassy, rather than report it in the Wall Street Journal?" he said.

The lack of 3G has been seen as a major failing of the iPhone, especially in Europe, and Apple is expected to correct this soon. The decision of T-Mobile in Germany to slash the cost of its current iPhone stock has fuelled speculation that Apple is trying to dump old stock before the switch.