Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Thursday:
All Your Parts Are Belong to Us: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is, if rumors are to be believed, gearing up for a major offensive against Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) this year. Not content to lead the eReader market with its Kindle device, Amazon is said to be planning to release an Amazon tablet similar to Apple’s iPad. The company’s plan is a sound one, but Apple might have more than consumer tastes on its side. According to a Thursday report at DigiTimes (via Apple Insider), Amazon is negotiating with a plethora of LCD touchscreen display manufacturers including Wintek, J Touch, HannStar Display and TPK Holdings. The problem is Apple seemingly already has those companies’ resources locked down. Wintek’s production schedule for the back half of 2011 is becoming “tight” because of Apple’s orders for iPad screens. TPK Holdings also is concerned about making any commitments to Amazon because of the large number of screen orders Apple has made with the company. Not only has the iPad defined the market’s conception of what a tablet is, it’s literally making it virtually impossible for other companies to buy the parts necessary to compete.
100K Strong: The iPad App Store hit a significant milestone on Thursday as it listed its 100,000th app for sale. The tablet’s digital storefront has been open since April 2010. The 75,000th app was listed in the store as recently as March, implying that the release of the second-generation iPad that month significantly boosted the market enough for developers to pour out new apps by the hundreds. It took just slightly longer for the iPhone app store to reach that same milestone. Opened in July 2008, the iPhone App Store hit 100,000 apps in November 2009
The Google Strategy: According to a Wednesday report at Bloomberg (via Mac Rumors), Hewlett-Packard (NASDAQ: HPQ) is taking a page out of the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) playbook in strengthening its place in the mobile operating system business. The newly revamped, Palm-developed WebOS 3.0 operating system might not be exclusive to HP’s smartphones and tablets, as the company is considering licensing the platform to third-party manufacturers. Samsung is said to be interested already because of WebOS’ openness. The company is concerned that Google is planning to restrict any possible modifications on Android devices, such as Samsung’s own Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab. The latest version of WebOS became available alongside HP’s would-be iPad killer, the TouchPad tablet, earlier this month. Early reviews say HP’s tablet is unlikely to make a dent in Apple’s tablet business.
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.
