Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for Thursday:
AAPL Market Value May Break $700: Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock value hit a new peak of $600 briefly today in anticipation of tomorrow’s iPad debut — and may only continue to rise, according to Bloomberg. Since February, at least four separate analysts have increased price targets beyond the $700 mark. AAPL’s value has increased a full 46% this year while outperforming the S&P index by 543% during the past five years, providing shareholders with a 555% return on their investment. Its direct competitors, on the other hand, have experienced veritable plummets in market value. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) has dropped 41% year-to-date, while Blackberry designer Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) experienced a full 79% cut in value over the same period.
App Store Receiving 26,000 Weekly Submissions: Ever since launching its mobile app store in 2008, the amount of application submissions Apple receives on a weekly basis has skyrocketed. According to the Los Angeles Times, by mid-2009 Apple reported it was receiving 8,500 developer submissions week-by-week — a number which had only climbed to around 15,000 circa 2010. However, the volume of new apps that are submitted for Apple’s review has jumped to more than 26,000 per week this year. Apple’s standards remains rigorous, as a full 30% of these apps are rejected for not adhering to development criteria.
Dutch Court Rules Strongly in Apple’s Favor: A judge presiding over the District Court of the Hague ruled yesterday that Samsung has no legitimate claims which would bar the sale of iPads and iPhones in the Netherlands. As CNet reports, the latest ruling in the series of legal battles between Apple and Samsung settles that Samsung has no patent-tied injunctions which would bar the sale of Apple devices licensed to run Samsung applications. Since Samsung and competitor Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) both operate under Europe’s FRAND (fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory) licensing standards, neither companies can technically claim legal grievance against Apple as long as the iPhone manufacturer demonstrates honest intent to negotiate patent use.
Adam Patterson is an Assistant Editor of InvestorPlace. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. For more from the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
