Here are your daily Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) news items and rumors for Monday:
Unlimited Data on Verizon iPhone: Unlike AT&T (NYSE:T), Verizon (NYSE:VZ) will offer unlimited data plans for subscribers buying the new CDMA iPhone it will offer. Verizon is expected to officially announce the partnership with Apple on a 3G iPhone on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Verizon will support the iPhone with its existing unlimited data plan, despite Verizon executives hinting that the carrier would be moving to a tiered data pricing structure in 2011. The unlimited data plan from Verizon is $30 a month. AT&T’s largest data plan gives subscribers 2GB with tethering for $45 a month.
Spend More for Verizon: The high cost of CDMA wireless components may drive up the price of the Verizon iPhone, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz. He said in a note to investors on Monday that the new Verizon iPhone could cost between $20 and $30 more than AT&T iPhones. The reason for this is that CDMA-related components are more expensive than the UMTS components in AT&T iPhones. Moskowitz doesn’t believe that the higher cost will turn off prospective customers, though. “While the acquisition price of the iPhone could be slightly more expensive for subscribers on Verizon,we think that there will be offsets, specifically network performance,” he wrote. It seems unlikely that Apple would risk alienating both new customers and current iPhone users tempted away from AT&T by the promise of better service with a higher price point. That said, it seems likely that Apple will instead take a loss on each Verizon iPhone sold rather than raise the phone’s price point.
Apple Drops Old iPhone Price: AT&T made headlines last week when it dropped the price of the 2009 model of iPhone, the iPhone 3GS, to $49 with a two-year contract. Apple followed suit on Monday officially dropping the price of the 8GB iPhone 3GS at both its retail stores and its online store at Apple.com to $49 from $99. The iPhone 4 is keeping its current pricing, with the 16GB model selling for $199 and the 32GB model for $299. It’s unlikely that these prices will change even after the official announcement of the Verizon iPhone on Tuesday. With an iPhone 5 model expected on AT&T’s network this summer, however, it’s likely that the 16GB iPhone 4 will drop in price to $99 following its release.
iPad 2 Announcement Coming: The latest rumor of a second-generation iPad announcement comes not from a technology website or Wall Street analyst, but the founder of a news aggregator. Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com, said that a reliable source has told him that Apple will announce the iPad 2 before the end of of February. On Friday evening, Rose posted on his personal website, “I have it on good authority that Apple will be announcing the iPad 2 in the next ‘3-4 weeks’, possibly Tuesday, February 1st. The iPad 2 will feature a retina display and front/back cameras.” It’s been rumored since last summer that the next iteration of the tablet PC would feature a retina display as well as front- and rear-facing cameras for support of the company’s popular Face Time video chat software.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
