Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Friday:
CloudTunes: Reuters reported Thursday that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is about to beat Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) cloud-based music business to the punch. Apple’s long-rumored expansion of its iTunes music store will allow customers to store purchased music on Apple-controlled servers is ready to debut. iTunes users will store songs that they can access from any Web-enabled device, whether it be a PC, iPad, or iPhone. Apple has reportedly yet to inform its numerous music label partners when the service will open to the public. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) opened its own CloudPlayer music locker service this year and took criticism from the music business for not getting approval before opening the service.
iPhone 5 for All: During the company’s earnings conference call on Thursday, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) CFO Fran Shammo explained that the average revenue made per mobile was down for the quarter in part because the iPhone released through Verizon was released in a separate time frame than AT&T’s (NYSE:T). The executive said this won’t happen when the iPhone 5 is released later this year, because that device will be compatible with both standard 3G networks. This would leave both AT&T and Verizon “on equal footing without competitors.” All of this does suggest, however, that Apple won’t release a 4G iPhone in 2011.
PC Market Shrinks, Mac Grows: The iPhone and iPad may be pushing Apple to unprecedented levels of fame and financial success, but it would be foolish to ignore the strides made by the company’s traditional PC business. Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said during the company’s earnings call that Mac sales were up 25% in the Americas region (and slightly higher in the U.S.), and up an impressive 76% in Asian markets. The company sold 3.76 million Mac desktop and laptop computers thanks to the popularity of new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models. Though the PC market has shrunk this year, Apple should be sitting pretty throughout the rest of 2011 thanks to a new Mac operating system being released this summer and all but guaranteed new PC models to accompany it.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.
