Here are your Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) news items and rumors for Friday:
Verizon iPhone Preorders Sell Out: Despite limited iPhone preordering access (to customers already signed to a contract), Verizon’s (NYSE:VZ) website was bombarded with traffic on Thursday, and both Verizon and Apple shut down the preorder sites by 9 p.m. EST, directing customers to wait until next Wednesday to buy the phone online — or Thursday at an Apple or Verizon retail outlet.
Succession Plan Requested: Weeks after Apple CEO Steve Jobs said he would take a six-month leave of absence to focus on his health, a shareholder proposal submitted by Central Laborers’ Pension Fund is demanding that Apple disclose plans for a successor in the event that the leave of absence becomes permanent. Reuters reported Thursday that investor advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services has backed the proposal. Although it says a “comprehensive succession plan” is already in place, Apple is asking shareholders to vote against the proposal at the Apple’s annual shareholder meeting on Feb. 23.
iPhone Jumps: An online survey shows Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Motorola (NYSE:MMI), and other cellphone providers with Verizon ties will get some discouraging first-quarter U.S. sales figures. Online firm uSamp, which culled data from a “highly profiled online panel” of more than 700 Verizon customers, suggests that it won’t just be AT&T (NYSE:T) customers lured away from existing products by the new iPhone on Verizon. Of those respondents using an Android or BlackBerry phone on Verizon’s network, 25% said they were “very likely” to switch to the iPhone after Thursday, with an additional 29% said they are “somewhat likely” to change over.
iPad App Store Update: Apple has reportedly made a number of changes to the app store on its popular tablet PC. According to MacStories, Apple introduced a set of new search filters that allows users to search by category, release date, customer rating, and price. These new filters may seem inconsequential, but they should ease app developer worries that their products will be invisible to most users. More specific search tools should help improve app visibility by a significant margin.
At the time of publication, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
