The Wall Street Journal has just sent the iPhone hype into overdrive with its report that one of the device's screen suppliers hasn't started production yet.

That's cutting it close for a phone expected to be announced within two weeks and go on sale within the next month. And now, the resulting fallout is this: Preorder your iPhone early! There might be a shortage!

Nice one, Apple (AAPL).

Actually, it's unlikely that Apple is generating these news articles. The company surely won't suffer from a lack of buyers for the next iPhone, widely assumed to be called the iPhone 5. It's on track to be Apple's biggest product launch ever. In fact, one analyst from Jefferies thinks it will be the biggest handset launch in history.

That launch will be hampered somewhat if Sharp can't get its act together. Sharp is one of three companies making liquid crystal displays for the iPhone, the Journal reports. It had planned to start shipping these displays at the end of this month, but it hasn't even started mass producing them yet.

Reuters confirmed the report, saying that Sharp is struggling with the high costs associated with making these screens. Apple may end up having to provide "financial incentives" to speed up production. Neither Apple nor Sharp are officially commenting on the articles.

The new screens don't sound easy to make. They are rumored to be 30% larger than current iPhone screens, and Reuters reports that they will have touch sensors embedded in the liquid crystal display.

Apple still has two other companies making the screens -- Japan Display and South Korea's LG Display -- and they appear to be on track.

So will Sharp begin shipping the screens before it's too late? Will Apple have enough supplies for the iPhone 5 launch? Is it time to panic yet?

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