Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL stock news items for Friday:
iPhone Owners More Likely to Invest in Apple: Considering the crazed zeal with which most people talk about their iPhones, it isn’t too surprising that they want to own a piece of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) as much as Apple owns a piece of them. According to a report at Venture Beat, investment tracking website SigFig’s new survey of mobile customer loyalty found that 16% of iPhone owners own Apple stock. That company loyalty outstrips competitors in the mobile space. Also unsurprising: BlackBerry owners actually are more likely to purchase stock in Apple than in Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM). Just one in 100 BlackBerry users own RIM shares, but 6% of BlackBerry owners own Apple shares. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) fares slightly better: While 8% of Android users own stock in Apple, 4% of them own shares of Google.
Samsung A5 Chip Manufacturing Plant Opens in Texas: Despite their contentious relationship, Samsung (PINK:SSNLF) and Apple remain linked by their production relationship. Samsung remains a core supplier of parts for Apple’s devices. Further cementing that bond is Samsung’s new manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas. A Friday Reuters report said the new $3.6 billion facility reached full production capacity at the beginning of the month. What are they making at the Austin facility? The Apple A5 chip — the custom processor used in devices like the iPad and iPhone based on ARM Holdings‘ (NASDAQ:ARMH) ARM Cortex-A9 processor. The facility is unique among Apple component suppliers, as most Apple product assembly and component production takes place across Asia.
Apple Strikes Deal With Fox for Exclusive Version of Avatar: A new special edition of James Cameron’s 2009 movie Avatar is coming exclusively to iTunes, according to a Friday report at Apple Insider. The “iTunes Extras Special Edition” goes on sale on Dec. 20 for $19.99 (HD) and $14.99 (SD) and includes a plethora of new interactive features not previously offered in digital editions of movies on iTunes. The deal between Apple and News Corp.‘s (NASDAQ:NWS) 20th Century Fox certainly is a coup for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company, but it’s unclear whether new bonus features not available on disc-based editions will help boost Apple’s flat digital video sales.
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.
