Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Wednesday:
Verizon iPhone Below Expectations: BGR reported Wednesday that the Verizon (NYSE:VZ) iPhone 4 may not be the second coming for either Verizon or Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Data provided by a source with access to Apple’s retail operations said sales of the Verizon’s phone and the nearly year-old AT&T iPhone 4 were quite close. The numbers pulled from five Apple Stores, including “two very, very prominent Apple Stores,” show that 909 Verizon iPhone 4s were sold across those stores on the phone’s day of release, compared to 539 AT&T iPhone 4s. But this past Monday, the sales gap had narrowed to 711 Verizon phones and 618 AT&T iPhones. BGR‘s source also indicates that preorders might have been lower than previously thought. Ticonderoga Securities’ Brian White said last week that Verizon sold between 700,000 and 1 million preorders, while BGR‘s source claims that only 550,000 preorders sold between both Verizon and Apple.
A Matter of Antitrust: The Wall Street Journal says Apple’s new subscription pay model for its handheld app store could lead to an antitrust investigation. Particularly in question is Apple’s new strict enforcement of guidelines that prevent app publishers from letting users to purchase content subscriptions directly from the publisher — they must sell their apps through Apple’s digital storefront, guaranteeing that Apple takes a 30% cut of every sale of the app or subscription fee. While they can have an option to purchase apps or subscriptions directly from the publisher (even if they can’t include links in their apps), Apple requires them to offer an equal or lower fee for the same product in its app store. Herbert Hovenkamp of The University of Iowa College of Law told the WSJ that the moment Apple will come under most scrutiny is when it can be proven that 60% of all digital subscriptions are being sold through the App Store rather than directly through the publisher.
MacBook Pro Update: New models of Apple’s high-end MacBook Pro laptops are already in production according to an Apple Insider report Tuesday. A person familiar with the matter claimed that the new laptops will actually be revealed to the public some two weeks after Apple originally intended due to issues surrounding the new Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Sandy Bridge processors being used in the laptops. In addition to featuring the new Intel processor, the new MacBook Pro line will include a redesigned chassis, standard SSD drives, and instant-on for speedy booting. The last MacBook Pro model was released in April 2010.
At the time of publication, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
