Here are your daily Apple news items and rumors for Thursday:
iPhone No. 1: It’s an all-iPhone, all-the-time Thursday. First, Nielsen released a new survey (reprinted at 9 to 5 Mac) breaking down control of the U.S. smartphone market. Google‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android still is the leading operating system, running under the hood of more smartphones than any other platform, but Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the leading smartphone manufacturer in the U.S. As of the second quarter of 2011, Apple has snatched up a 28% share of the U.S. smartphone market. The besieged Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) still holds 20% of the market. Google phones account for 39%, but the largest manufacturer in that category is HTC, which holds a 14% share, followed by Motorola (NYSE:MMI) with an 11% share.
People Ready to Pounce on iPhone 5: Apple’s share of the smartphone market may continue to rise before the year is out, according to a new survey conducted by Web business Price Grabber. Reprinted at Mac Rumors, the survey found that 35% U.S. consumers are planning to purchase the fifth-generation iPhone, thought to be called the iPhone 5. Most impressive is the fact the phone officially doesn’t exist yet, as Apple hasn’t announced a new iPhone model since the Verizon (NYSE:VZ) compatible iPhone 4 in February. Thirty percent of those respondents who said they plan to buy the device said they will buy it before 2011 ends, and 50% said they would buy it within the next 12 months.
Reconfirmed for September: Those consumers looking to buy an iPhone 5 likely will be doing so during the second week of September. Reconfirming earlier reports in Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal, China Times (via Apple Insider) said Wednesday that the new iPhone will release between Sept. 6-15. Apple’s suppliers already have delivered 400,000 of the new smartphones to the Cupertino, Calif.-based company. The report also noted that the third-generation iPad, rumored to be coming before the year is out, has been delayed to November because of problems with components used in the device.
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.
