Wednesday Apple Rumors: Wintek Sales Signal iPad Mini

by Christopher Freeburn | August 1, 2012 2:39 pm

daily apple rumors AAPL[1]Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL[2] news items for today:

Signs of iPad Mini Launch Detected: An analyst at Topeka Capital Markets says that a 61% jump in month-over-month sales at Asian component supplier Wintek signals that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL[2]) is placing orders for a much-rumored smaller-screen iPad[3], Apple Insider notes. Wintek is a key supplier of components for Apple products. The company’s sudden sales gain in July comes after it suffered a sales slump the prior month. Wintek does not supply the in-cell touchscreens that Apple is expected to use in its upcoming next-generation iPhone, so the sales jump is likely related to orders for the iPad Mini, which is not predicted to use that technology, the analyst speculates.

AMD Poaches Apple Talent: The head of the team that designed the processors for the iPad, iPhone and Apple TV is leaving Apple to head the processor development group[4] at Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD[5]), PC Magazine reports. Jim Keller will become a vice president at AMD and help the struggling chip-maker design new microprocessors. The move could help AMD move into the market for tablet computer chips, where is currently has no products. AMD has been losing key executives to other chip makers like Samsung and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM[6]) over the past year.

Design Team Secrets Exposed: Testimony offered in Apple’s patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung has reveal details of how the company’s designers operate[7], Reuters notes. Testifying before the court, Christopher Stringer, an Apple designer, said the company’s design team, headed by Jony Ive, meets around a kitchen table to discuss products. Access to the design studio is limited to only a handful of Apple employees. Most of the team’s members have worked together for more than a decade, Stringer, said, and are “a pretty maniacal group of people” who “obsess over details.”

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[8] stories.

Endnotes:

  1. [Image]: https://investorplace.com/hot-topics/apple-rumors-stock-news/
  2. AAPL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AAPL
  3. placing orders for a much-rumored smaller-screen iPad: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/08/01/wintek_sales_spike_61_ahead_of_apples_anticipated_ipad_mini.html
  4. is leaving Apple to head the processor development group: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/260193/amd_hires_apple_platform_architect_to_head_processor_group.html
  5. AMD: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AMD
  6. QCOM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=QCOM
  7. has reveal details of how the company’s designers operate: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-07-31/business/sns-rt-us-apple-samsung-designerbre87001d-20120731_1_apple-designer-jonathan-ive-iphone
  8. Apple Rumors: https://investorplace.com/2012/04/hot-topics/apple-rumors-stock-news/

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