Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:
Higher: When Apple (AAPL) reports its fiscal third quarter results, iPhone sales may surprise many on Wall Street, AppleInsider notes, According to Morgan Stanley (MS) analyst Katy Huberty, Apple is on track to once again top analysts’ forecasts by selling up to 39 million iPhones during the quarter. Most analysts are expecting iPhone sales of 35 million units during the third fiscal quarter. Huberty bases her estimate on Morgan Stanley’s AlphaWise Smartphone Tracker, which predicts iPhone sales using Google (GOOG) Trends data. The tracker shows that consumer demand for iPhones could generate sales of up to 39 million units in the June-ending quarter. During the same period last year, Apple sold just 31.2 million iPhones, up from 26 million in the same period of 2012. Huberty cites significant discounts on new iPhones as boosting the smartphone’s sales during the quarter. During its second fiscal quarter, Apple reported 43.7 million iPhone sales, easily beating the 38 million iPhone sales that Wall Street was anticipating. Sales during the fiscal third quarter are expected to be lower than preceding quarters as consumers hold off iPhone urchases in anticipation of the launch of next-generation iPhones in the fall.
Returning: The nation’s largest warehouse retailer will soon begin selling iPhones and iPads, MacRumors notes. Costco (COST) has formed a new partnership with Apple and will begin selling iOS devices at its warehouse stores, according to an email from Costco’s wireless subsidiary CEO Dan Brettler. Costco had sold iPods and iTunes gift cards until 2010, when the relationship between the companies soured. Brettler did not specify when Costco would begin selling Apple products in his email. MacRumors says that Wi-Fi iPad Airs and iPods, among other Apple products are now showing up in Costco’s internal inventory system.
Searching: Apple has begun looking for a replacement for retired VP of Worldwide Corporate Communications Katie Cotton, Re/code notes. After 18 years at Apple, Cotton left the company last month. She was intimately involved in crafting Apple’s reputation for secrecy surrounding new products and was considered implacable by many tech journalists. Re/Code says that Apple will consider outside candidates for the position as well as current Apple communications executives Steve Dowling and Nat Kerris. CEO Tim Cook — to whom the VP of communications reports directly – is reportedly managing the search for a new communications chief and is hoping to “put a friendlier, more approachable face on Apple’s public relations efforts.”
For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
