Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Thursday. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:
AAPL ) is facing the end of Sony music on iTunes, Steve Jobs is working hard on
iPad 2 plans and online Verizon iPhone orders dramatically outweigh brick and
mortar orders. Sony Threatens to Pull Music From iTunes: The growing feud
between Apple and Sony (NYSE: SNE ) heated up on Friday when Sony Computer
Entertainment executive Michael Ephraim hinted that Sony is considering removing
its music properties from the iTunes Music Store. Speaking with Australian news
outlet The Age , Ephraim discussed the impending release of the Music Unlimited
subscription-based music service from Sony in Australia and said that he hoped
it would eliminate the need to have Sonys music on iTunes. [Does] Sony Music
need to provide content to iTunes? he said. Currently we do. We have to provide
it to iTunes as thats the format right now, said Ephraim. Publishers are being
held ransom by Apple and they are looking for other delivery systems, and we are
waiting to see what the next three to five years will hold. Sony recently came
into conflict with Apple when the companys Sony Reader app, a digital bookstore
akin to Apples iBookstore and the Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) Kindle App, was
banned from the iOS App Store on grounds that Apple wont distribute other app
stores. Steve Jobs Working Hard on iPhone 5, iPad 2: The Wall Street Journal
gave an update on CEO Steve Jobs activities with Apple on Friday, just shy of
one month after the executive began a six month leave of absence from daily
operations due to health problems. Sources say that though Jobs isnt at the
Cupertino, California campus, he remains hard at work on the next iterations of
the iPad and iPhone, both expected to release in the next six months. Daily
operations at Apple under COO Tim Cook, filling in during Jobs absence, have
stayed unchanged. Jobs health, meanwhile, remains a mystery. Sources say the CEO
continues to look thin and that appears to be going about things in much the
same way as he did during his previous medical leave, at the time of his
transplant. Low Turnout for Verizon iPhone at Retail Point : Past iPhone
releases have often been marked by large consumer turnout at retailers, with
lines stretching full city blocks while people wait for a chance at Apples
latest smartphones. The much-hyped CDMA iPhone 4 release on Thursday was low key
by comparison; Mike Abramsky of RBC analyst said that a survey of 40 Verizon
(NYSE: VZ ) stores in more than 6 cities said that though demand was steady
throughout the day, only some stores were expecting to sell out. Some blogs like
Silicon Alley Insider said that the lines of customers waiting for the phone
were laughably short. Verizon and Apple shareholders have little to worry about
however as Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White says that the low turnout
had more to do with the strength of last weeks preorders than consumer
disinterest. Verizon sold out its allotment of preorders in just 2 hours on
February 3, and though the company didnt specify exact numbers, White suggests
that between 700,000 and 1 million CDMA iPhone 4s were preordered. Coupled with
decent, if not massive, customer turnout on Thursday, the CDMA iPhone 4 stands a
good chance of breaking the AT&T (NYSE: T ) iPhone 4s first day sales record. As
of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the
stocks named here.
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