Evidence continues to mount to support expectations that Apple’s iPhone 4 will finally launch on Verizon this coming January.

The latest: Sources close to Apple’s hardware suppliers say that Apple has ordered millions of CDMA chipsets from Qualcomm. CDMA is the wireless technology used by Verizon.

The report comes from TechCrunch contributor Steve Cheney, who says that the chipsets are due in December, implying a January launch for the Verizon device. This follows a rumor from seven months ago that Qualcomm hadlanded a deal to provide Apple with chips.

You might also recall that AT&T dedicated a significant portion of its recent SEC filing to assurances that it would be a-okay without U.S. iPhone exclusivity, a probable sign that the carrier is expecting to lose said exclusivity before the original5-year deal runs its course.

TechCrunch doesn’t disclose any details about its sources for this rumor; it describes them only as “sources with knowledge of this entire situation,” a reference to the long chain of manufacturers from Apple on down through Qualcomm and other component-makers.

The January release date was supported by an earlier, less-specificreport from Bloomberg about a coming Verizon iPhone.

Somesurveys have predicted that as many as half of Verizon’s current customers will abandon their current phones for the iPhone if it becomes available to them.

(Source: Mashable / CNN)