Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:
Digital Wallet: With the launch of its next iOS update, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will include an app that permits users to pay for items directly with their iPhones, CNET notes. The prediction comes from Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) analyst Katy Hubert, who describes the feature as a “killer app” for the next iPhone, which is expected to debut this summer. Apple has made a limited venture into mobile payments with the Passbook feature introduced on the iPhone 5. However, Passbook only uses digital coupons. Recent rumors have indicated that the next iPhone will come with a fingerprint scanner, which would provide the necessary identify-protection to enable a real mobile payment system. Other analysts predict that Apple will debut a digital wallet feature, but expect that to come next year. Rival Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has already introduced a digital wallet feature for Android devices.
Teen Favorite: Almost half of American teenagers have an iPhone, the Los Angeles Times notes. Research from Piper Jaffray finds that 48% of U.S. teens already own an iPhone, up from 40% last year. Better still for Apple, 62% of teens say that their next smartphone will be an iPhone. The results reflect responses in a survey of 5,200 teenagers. Among teens, 68% said they owned an iPad, but that was down from 72% a year ago.
Shut Out: Apple has contracted with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) to produce its A7 chipsets, Inquistr notes. That means that Samsung, Apple’s long-time chip-making partner will not produce any of the new chips. TSM will use 20-nanometer technology to make the new chips. Apple is also rumored to be reducing the number of Samsung-made displays used in its products. Samsung had been Apple’s largest chip and display partners for years, but growing competition between the two companies in mobile device markets — as well as numerous patent infringement lawsuits — has prompted Apple to reduce its reliance on the South Korean electronics giant.
For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
