Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:
iBoost: Strong sales of the iPhone 5 have pushed Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) into second place in the U.S. cell phone market, CNET notes. At the end of October, Apple accounted for 17.8% of U.S. cell phone sales — which includes both smartphones and simple handsets — up from 16.3% at the end of July. Samsung retains the lead with 27.3% of U.S. cell phone sales. In the latest period, Apple surpassed LG to gain the second spot. Apple and Samsung saw their market shares increase during the period, while Google‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Motorola, LG and HTC saw their shares slip. Sales of the iPhone 5 were initially hurt by low supplies of the new phone as Apple’s Asian manufacturing partners encountered difficulties manufacturing the super-slim device. However, analysts say iPhone 5 production has improved and is now close to meeting demand. Apple is expected to sell up to 47.5 million iPhones during the holiday quarter.
Made in America: Some recently delivered iMacs are stamped with labels indicating that they were assembled in the U.S., AppleInsider notes. Apple devices are mostly made in Asia by third party manufacturing partners. The shipment of U.S.-assembled iMacs suggests that Apple may be moving some assembly functions to the U.S. in order to relieve production pressure at its Asian manufacturing partners, who have struggled recently to resolve production issues with the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini. Reports also recently surfaced suggesting that some Asian manufacturers were having difficulty with the latest iMacs’ slim design. CEO Tim Cook told attendees at an industry conference earlier this year that he hoped to see more U.S.-based production of Apple products.
An Empire of Its Own: If iTunes, Apple’s popular music and app stores, were a separate company, its revenues would easily make it one of the largest media companies in the world, Bloomberg notes. iTunes generates about $8.5 billion in annual revenue. It makes more money than the New York Times (NYSE:NYT), Times Warner‘s (NYSE:TWX) Warner Brothers Studios, and CBS (NYSE:CBS). iTunes annual revenue also tops the annual revenue of Viacom‘s (NASDAQ:VIAB) Paramount Studios and Disney‘s (NYSE:DIS) film studios. Unlike those media companies, however, iTunes does not produce its own content. But, Apple receives a 30% commission on all materials sold through iTunes.
For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
