An analyst at Rodman & Renshaw claims that the upcoming Apple iPad 2 will feature a dual-core CPU to compete with the likes of RIM PlayBook, and the Android “Honeycomb” based Motorola Tablet.

The analyst said:

Apple is on track to refresh the iPad by March and iPhone by late summer. A key component upgrade across these platforms will be a dual-core processor featuring a pair of 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores.

If this happens, it will be the first iOS product from the Cupertino-based company to sport a dual-core chip. And since both the current iPad and iPhone 4 shares same A4 CPU, it will be a no brainer for Apple to include the same chip in iPhone 5 that they are going to use in iPad 2.
The analyst also told CNET something about the Verizon iPhone:

iPhone volumes could also be maintained at the 15 million/quarter level through next year. The launch at Verizon could support an incremental 8 million units.