South Korean media reported that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is set to launch the fifth generation iPhone in the second quarter. The new iPhone, according to reports, will have a 4.6-inch display.

The Maeil Business Newspaper, quoting an unnamed industry source, said Apple has started placing orders to suppliers.

Samsung Electronics Co., a major display supplier for Apple, is based in Korea.

While Samsung is a supplier of key parts for the iPad and iPhone, it is also engaged in a bitter patent dispute with Apple in more than a dozen countries. The two are also fighting for top market share in tablets and smartphones.

Samsung Electronics set the bar for smartphones when it unveiled the Galaxy S 2 in February last year. With a 4.3-inch WVGA Super AMOLED Plus screen, an 8-megapixel camera with flash and 1080p HD video recording, a 1.2 GHz dual-core Exynos system on a chip processor, and 4G-LTE connectivity, the Galaxy S 2 has been tagged as one of the best smartphones to date. The Korean electronics giant even bragged in an ad that Apple Inc.'s latest smartphone doesn't have 4G support and a big screen real estate that are available in the Android smartphone. Samsung is set to release the Samsung Galaxy S 3 at about the same time as the iPhone 5.

In October last year, Apple released the iPhone 4S. While the 4th generation iPhone was a massive success, the iPhone 4S met lukewarm reaction from fans and critics -- the company known for its aesthetics recycled the design of the fourth generation iPhone; and the founder who turned "technology into magic" came up short in terms of innovation and instead released a phone that doesn't have adequate battery life, 4G support, and a bigger screen.

This year, Apple aims to surpass rivals with radical improvements to the iPhone. Aside from a bigger 4.6-inch display, and a higher resolution "retina" display, the iPhone 5 is expected to have 4G LTE support, a new design, a quad-core processor, near field communications (NFC) support, and an iOS 6 operating system.