Here is your daily Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock news and rumors for Nov. 19, 2010. One Wall Street analyst says that Apple is making many more iPads and fewer CDMA iPhones than previously thought, while another claims that the iPad 2 is well into the final design stages and will sport a chip making it compatible with both AT&T and Verizon’s 3G networks. Finally, screen problems with the new MacBook Air have been addressed by the latest update to the Snow Leopard operating system.
iPad 2 Equipped With Both GSM and CDMA Radio: Forget a 7-inch form factor, the hot new iPad 2 rumor making its way around the Web is integrated wireless communications in a single tablet model. Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair said in a note to investors this week that AAPL is prepping a new 3G model of its popular tablet PC that sports a Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) multimode CDMA-GSM chip. The multi-standard chip will enable a “world mode” letting the new device run on multiple 3G networks, namely AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless‘s (NYSE: VZ). This would bolster Verizon’s iPad business significantly. The telecom began selling WiFi-only models of the iPad last October, bundling them with MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot’s as 3G access to compensate for the iPad’s lack of CDMA support, a strategy mimicked by Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) shortly thereafter. Blair also claims that the new iPad will be thinner than the current model and include a forward-facing camera to further push Apple’s Face Time video chat technology.
iPad Orders Increased as Expected Sales of CDMA iPhone Lower: While one Wall Street analyst is pumping up the iPad 2 and its CDMA capabilities, another is saying that Apple is backing off CDMA compatibility while upping orders for the current model of iPad. Mike Abramsky of RBC Capital Markets advised investors that Apple would be significantly ramping up iPad production at the end of 2010 and into the beginning of 2011, bringing the total number manufactured this year to 40 million. Abramsky’s quoted number is higher than Wall Street expectations, and the analyst says that the higher number shows that Apple expects strong holiday sales for the tablet and that it won’t be impeded by sales of the new MacBook Air laptop. Meanwhile, Abramsky says that the long-rumored Verizon-compatible CDMA iPhone planned for early 2011 will not sell in the same numbers as previously expected. The analyst lowered his projections from 30 million sold to 20 million.
MacBook Air Screen Issues Fixed By Mac OS X Update 10.6.5: Early buyers of Apple’s new ultra-thin MacBook Air laptop were troubled when they encountered a number of display issues with the device’s screen. A number of users reported an array of issues, including the screen showing nothing but a random blur of colors, while others reported that the screen wouldn’t even activate upon rebooting the machine. A new Apple support document at the company’s official support website says that the most recent update for the Snow Leopard operating system, OS X 10.6.5, should fix the problem.
As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
