Here is your daily Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock news and rumors for September 9, 2010. The T-Mobile iPhone returns to our rumor wrap-up, and word on the street is that T-Mobile will get an Apple smartphone before the end of the year — but it’ll be an iPhone 3GS, not a 4. Meanwhile, analysts are upping their predictions for Apple’s 2011, seeing 28 million in sales for the iPad and maybe an iPhone for another telecom as well.
T-Mobile Gets iPhone 3GS Release, No iPhone 4: Rumors of Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) subsidiary T-Mobile USA getting the first iPhone outside of AT&T (NYSE: T) have been quiet lately. Earlier this summer, particularly in the weeks following the iPhone 4’s infamous release, word was that T-Mobile, not Verzion (NYSE: VZ) as many expected, would be the company saying, “There’s an app for that!” by the end of 2010. After a period of quiet, though, those rumors are back with a vengeance. Wired editor Chris Anderson posted the following on social network Twitter: “A T-Mobile manager casually mentioned to me that they’re going to get the iPhone 3GS (but not 4, oddly) later this year. Common knowledge?” As some have pointed out, it’s telling that Anderson sent out a message on Twitter rather than filing a news story with Wired.com, indicating that he didn’t put much stock in the T-Mobile manager’s word. Still, it would line up with previous rumors. Just two weeks ago, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu said that, while it was unlikely Apple would release a CDMA iPhone with Verizon this year since both companies want their initial offering to be a technological leap over current smartphones, it would be “premature” to rule out a lower tech iPhone from T-Mobile this year.
Apple to Sell 28 Million iPads in 2011: While every analyst in the country has been predicting that Apple’s tablet computer, the iPad would significantly cut into the notebook PC market in the next fiscal year, few have predicted numbers quite like Maynard UM from UBS Investment Research. In a note to investors, Um raised his Apple stock target price from $340 to $350, saying that his “conservative” estimate on the number of iPads sold in 2011 is 28 million units. The popularity of the iPad is, according to Um, mitigated by its lack of desirable functionality in comparison to low-end notebook PCs. That said, many potential consumers are delaying their purchase of an ultra-portable computer as they wait for an updated iPad model to release. Um also mentions that investors should also expect that pesky CDMA iPhone 4 in January of 2011, pushing 52 million in iPhone sales next year.
Apple Eases iPhone, iPod, and iPad App Development: Frustrated by Apple’s lack of support for their multimedia platform on iOS devices, Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) released its own tools for making Flash-based apps on the iPhone and iPad earlier this year. Apple, being particularly prickly about how other companies use their software, altered their iOS Developer Program license forcing any and all developers to use Apple’s Objective-C-based programming tools or nothing else to build apps. Now, after a torrent of criticism following the decision, Apple is reeling back in its restrictions and allowing for more cross platform friendly development on iOS-based machines. The first evidence of Apple changing its ways could be seen at least week’s media event in San Francisco, where Epic Games showed off the Epic Citadel engine running on the new iPod. That engine, used for building 3D video games on iOS devices, is just the kind of tool set that Apple’s previous restrictions banned.
As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
