Here are your Apple news items and rumors for Wednesday:
iPhone 5 Announcement Coming Oct. 4: All Things Digital reported Wednesday that the long-suspected Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) press conference to announce the next iPhone will take place Oct. 4. This information came from “sources close to the situation.” Apple was expected by analysts to announce its new iPhone at the end of September with an early October release to follow, but All Things Digital‘s source indicates the new smartphone will release a few weeks after the press conference. The seeming delay could be the result of rumored production problems hampering the iPhone 5’s release. The event will be the first major product reveal from the company since Steve Jobs handed over the CEO reins to former COO Tim Cook. Shareholders worried that a Jobs-less Apple might fumble a new product launch shouldn’t be concerned considering Apple shares continue to break records.
China Booms Ahead of iPhone 5 Release: Brian White, analyst at Ticonderoga Securities, issued a note to investors (reprinted at Apple Insider) discussing the state of the Chinese telecom industry — and things are going pretty well over in the largest country on earth. The number of subscribers using 3G mobile phones grew a whopping 7.8% in August, bringing the total number of users to 93.8 million. White believes this rampant growth will continue throughout the fall, leaving China with 125 million 3G subscribers by the end of the calendar year. The highly anticipated iPhone 5 is going to play a key part in this growth as well. Investors would be wise to pay attention to China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) and China Telecom (NYSE:CHA) as the iPhone 5’s release nears. While both companies’ stocks are trading near 52-week highs, the iPhone 5 will be the first Apple product available on those respective networks. Fall 2011 could prove an auspicious season for the Chinese telecom industry.
Kazaa Finds New Life on iPhone and iPad: Back when the Best Buy-owned (NYSE:BBY) Napster digital music service was the face of Internet music piracy, a number of other small file-sharing services sprung up in its wake. Among those was Kazaa, a peculiar company that attempted to monetize file sharing before it was driven into obscurity by copyright infringement litigation in a number of countries. Owner Sharman Networks has resurrected Kazaa as a new streaming music and Internet radio service on the iPhone and iPad. The new service, which costs $10 per month, works almost identically to others like Rdio and Spotify. It’s a curious new entry in a market that’s growing more crowded by the day.
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.
