Rumors surrounding the release and features of the iPhone 6 dominate most of the news coming out of Apple this past week. Many say a 4.8-inch screen is a done deal, while others claim multiple sizes are coming. Apple may be thinking about relaunching the iPhone 4 in India thanks to the low price tag it carries.Verizon also released its iPhone sales this past week, and it may not be all good news.
Top Apple News & Rumors:
- WSJ: 2 new iPhone coming next year
- iPhone 4 makes a comeback in India
- Carl Ichan ups his Apple Stock
- iPhone sales slip at Verizon
- iPhone 6 will sport 4.8-inch screen
WSJ: New iPhones to sport bigger screens
A recent report coming from the Wall Street Journal says Apple will release two new iPhones later this year. Sources close to the journal also claim both of these devices will feature bigger screens, one with a 4.5-inch display, and the other with a 5-inch display. This report matches up with a report from Bloomberg News published late last year that claims two new bigger iPhones are coming in 2014. Over the past few years, The WSJ has been somewhat of an unofficial “leak” source for Apple. The majority of Apple rumors released by The Journal actually tend to be fact over incorrect speculation. Although we are hearing about two new iPhones coming next year, the WSJ made no reference on release date or timing.
iPhone 4 returns to India
With the high cost of both the iPhone 5S and 5C currently in India and the low volume of sales, Apple will bring back the 4-year old model to help boost sales. The Cupertino giant has officially brought the iPhone 4 back to India. The iPhone 4 will sell for Rs 22,900 ($370). This is a price cut of about Rs 4,000 ($65) from when the device was available before the launch of the 5S and 5C. According to research firm Mediacells, India will account for nearly a quarter of the 1.03 billion smartphones that will be sold in 2014. With Apple owning about 10% of the Indian market right now, the cheaper model may help them compete with Nokia, Samsung, MicroMax and others who all offer sub $200 models.
Carl Ichan now owns $3bn worth of Apple stock
Having purchased $500 million more $AAPL shares in the last two weeks, our investment has crossed the $3 billion mark yesterday. — Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) January 22, 2014
American billionaire and investor Carl Ichan, tweeted out on Wednesday that his investment in Apple had grown to roughly $3 billion. Icahn revealed that he has purchased another $500 million worth of shares during the past two weeks. He already owned about 4.7 million Apple Inc. shares worth over $2.5 billion. The reason for the hefty purchase is said to urge Apple to spend $50 billion buying back its own stock during the current fiscal year ending in September. Although this is a big investment, his shares still do not put him on the top ten list of shareholders.
iPhone sales may have slipped at Verizon last quarter
Verizon wireless has recently released their Q4 results and iPhone may have taken a hit. The “Big Red” says it activated 8.8 million smartphones in Q4 2013, a 10% decline from the 9.8 million it activated in Q4 2012. The company declined to comment on how many of those smartphones were actual iPhones, but one analyst suspects that iPhone sales fell short for the quarter. Tech-thoughts analyst, Sameer Singh, noted; “iPhone sales at Verizon may have declined by more than 15% YoY”. The analyst used data from the latest Kantar report to plot the quarterly iPhone activations reported by Verizon against Kantar’s iPhone sales share estimates to come to his conclusion. Whether or not his 15% estimates is completely accurate is for you to decide.
iPhone 6 will sport a bigger 4.8-inch screen
New rumors surrounding the iPhone 6 and its screen size surfaced yesterday after a note to investors of Cowen and Company was leaked. This rumor comes from Timothy Arcuri of Cowen and Company, who issued a note to investors that the new design of the upcoming iPhone had been finalized. Citing sources within Apple’s supply chain, Arcuri indicated that the next-generation iPhone will sport a 4.8-inch screen and come with the 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
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