iPhone at WWDC? Déjà vu all over again

Analysts are saying that there will be no new iPhone announced at WWDC.  In fact, they think Apple will only focus on Snow Leopard.  Here's what Piper Jaffay's Gene Munster told clients:

What We Expect To See (And Not See) At WWDC; No New iPhones. As indicated in today's press release, we believe Apple will focus on the new version of Mac OS X, Snow Leopard at WWDC. While some investors may be expecting Apple to launch redesigned iPhones at WWDC, we do not anticipate the launch in early June. 

Really?  No iPhone stuff at WWDC?  Just Snow Leopard?  Just as a refresher, this was the invitation sent to developers and is also the WWDC homepage currently.  Are you sure there won't be any iPhone stuff here?

If it is just Snow Leopard, what are the 50 sessions on iPhone development, some of them using new technology, doing in the program?

It seems fairly obvious that a new iPhone(s?) along with iPhone OS 3 will be launched at WWDC.

This schedule might seem familiar.  Last year, Apple had the same set up.  They were reducing iPhone inventory to being sold through May and were out of iPhone inventory before June.  Then they unveiled the iPhone 3G at WWDC on June 9th.  It began shipping later that month. Here's a refresher:

Expect the same thing this year.  In case no one has noticed, Apple has moved to a yearly upgrade cycle.  If you want to know when something is going to be released, look at the previous year.

That isn't to say that Snow Leopard isn't going to make an appearance.  Just today, Apple noted that Snow Leopard Developer Preview would be released at WWDC.  In fact, there are a lot of new capabilities expected with this optimized version of the Apple OS software.  Optimized software means that Snow Leopard can run on smaller, less powerful devices.

There is nothing Apple fans want to see more than a new line of portable hardware ... well, maybe an appearance by Steve Jobs.