Here is your daily Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock news and rumors for October 20, 2010. The big Apple news of the day will come later this afternoon at the Back to the Mac event, but some of those announcements have leaked early. Apple’s tablet is making its own news today, as research group iSuppli greatly increases its expectations for total iPad sales over the next two years. Finally, the Apple TV has a strong first month of sales.
New MacBook Air, iLife ’11, Mystery Product Leaked by Apple.com: Hours before the Back to the Mac event kicks off at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, Calif., Apple.com has leaked a number of the announcements expected later today. New sections have been added to Apple.com’s official forums for discussion about new editions of popular Apple software including music studio program GarageBand ’11, picture and video editing software iPhoto ’11 and iMovie ’11, and the complete software suite that encompasses those programs, iLife ’11. A new section has also been opened titled “MBA (Need Official Name)” which is further confirmation of the already expected new 11.6-inch MacBook Air laptops. More intriguing than these leaks is the teaser section labeled “Reserved 10 20.” It’s possible that Apple will unveil an entirely new product at today’s event. Investors may recall that a new iMac with an adjustable touch-screen monitor has been rumored since last summer, most recently by DigiTimes who reported that the new desktop was in testing as of October 1st.
Research Group Predicts 120 Million iPads Sold by 2012: Research group iSuppli thinks that previous estimates regarding the iPad’s market penetration over the next two years have not been high enough. Following Apple’s quarterly earnings report on Monday, iSuppli raised its projections for the popular tablet computer, predicting that Apple will have sold 57.5 million iPads by the end of next year, and 120.3 million by the end of 2012. iSuppli predicted that Apple would sell just over 100 million iPads between now and the end of 2012. The reason for the raised projections is that Apple has finally worked out its supply chain problems for key iPad components like Field Fringe Switching LCD panels and touch screens for the device. Factors like supply finally meeting demand for the tablet coupled with the iPad’s expansion to retailers like Target (NYSE: TGT), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), in addition to branching out to new wireless communication providers like Verizon (NYSE: VZ), have created a stronger sales environment for the iPad sooner than expected.
New Apple TV Has Modest First Month: While most of Apple’s quarterly earnings report was devoted to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac platforms, CEO Steve Jobs did mention that the company’s new $99 Apple TV set top box had a modest debut at the end of September. Saying that he was “thrilled” with the device’s performance so far, Jobs reported that his company has sold more than 250,000 Apple TVs since its late September release. Jobs also confirmed that a software update next month will bring AirPlay functionality to iOS 4.2 on the iPad, allowing for video streaming from the tablet to the Apple TV.
As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
