Thursday Apple Rumors: T-Mobile Ready for Sept. 20 iPhone Launch

by Christopher Freeburn | August 29, 2013 1:14 pm

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

Preparation: The nation’s fourth largest wireless carrier has told employees that they cannot take vacations on three days next month[3] in advance of the launch of Apple‘s (AAPL[4]) new iPhone, TmoNews notes. The employee blackout dates at T-Mobile (TMUS[5]) span September 20 through September 22. According to the report, T-Mobile did not provide a reason for the blackout dates. However, Apple is widely expected to debut its new flagship iPhone 5S and a lower priced iPhone 5C at a media event on September 10. If Apple follows its usual product introduction cycle, the new iPhones would become available to consumers just over a week later. Demand for the new iPhones is expected to be heavy. Last year, Apple sold five million iPhone 5s in just three days after its launch. T-Mobile only began offering the iPhone to subscribers earlier this year. The addition of the iPhone was credited by some analysts with preventing up to 400,000 subscribers from defecting to rival carriers.

Change: In an interview, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack said the company may have to stop making one standard iPhone for worldwide distribution[6], CNET notes. Instead, he suggests, the company could collaborate with local manufacturing partners to make smartphones that are uniquely configured to appeal to consumers in specific regions — China, for instance. Wozniak noted that some Apple fans might consider the notion “almost treasonous,” but observed that Apple hadn’t yet “cracked the Chinese market as well as we could.” He pointed out that local manufacturers had a better grasp of Chinese consumer preferences than Apple’s California-based designers. An Apple phone made in partnership with local manufactures wouldn’t bear the iPhone name, but would have to comply with Apple’s strict quality control and would feature the Apple brand. Wozniak said he had no plans to try to advise CEO Tim Cook, since that might be “more like a fight.”

Tenacious: Apple is once again attempting to trademark a commonly-used word[7], TheNextWeb notes. The iPad-maker has filed to secure the rights to the word “startup” in Australia. This marks the company’s second bid for the term. Apple wants to use the term for retail, computer, mobile device and educational course use. In 2011, Apple tried to trademark the term in the U.S., but was shot down by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/08/thursday-apple-rumors-t-mobile-ready-for-sept-20-iphone-launch/

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