Vague Rumor of 3G iPhone Delay Was Enough To Make Apple Slide

Were it not for the recent crumbling of the stock, and the questions about the drop raised by readers, I would hesitate even to pass this along. But here goes.

Apple (AAPL) shares appear to be losing ground this afternoon on rumors involving possible delays of the 3G iPhone. Now, I would point out that Apple has not even officially confirmed that there will be a 3G iPhone; but the device has been widely expected to debut on June 9, when CEO Steve Jobs give the keynote at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference at Moscone West in San Francisco.

One trading source tells me there are “rumors of a rumor” of a 3G delay. You have to love stocks moving on rumors of rumors. Meanwhile, TheFlyOnTheWall.com is reporting that the weakness is being “attributed to vague concerns regarding 3G launch.”

Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting that AT&T CFO Rick Lindner said today that his company has yet to determine pricing for the new version of the phone.

“There’s not been a product announcement. There hasn’t been any pricing decisions made. That’s yet to come,” Lindner told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York. He said AT&T has more than 2.5 million current iPhone customers, with the average subscribers spending nearly $100 a month on service.

Apple today at close was down to $177.05 from an open of $179.18.

Comments

[master_trader:]

This is absurd that some rumor propagated by someone on the Yahoo message board would cause a 5 point drop. Especially since I dont understand how we can have a delay in something not yet announced. Then the delayed date would just be the release date. Looks to me some technical trading and a test of the 30 day moving average which it passed on this first test. I await confirmation.

Real question is what's with the line at the 5th avenue store this afternoon?

2008 May 22 04:51 PM

[TDC:]

Just checked the Apple online store and both versions, 8GB and 16GB ,of the IPhone are unavailable. Seems like cleaning out the old inventory into a new product launch.

2008 May 22 05:42 PM

[oregonduck:]

I made money on that rumor. I bought on that low point and think that the stock will pop back up to the mid 90's next week.

2008 May 22 06:58 PM

[wallawallab...:]

If I were the SEC, I'd take a close look at Scott Moritz.

Seems right up his alley.

2008 May 23 06:24 AM

[tom1234:]

RUMOR---SNOW A POSSIBILITY THIS WEEKEND--HAVE A GREAT TIME

2008 May 23 08:07 AM

[brewer:]

Rumor has it there is a real shortage of APPL stock. And anyone buying would like to run it down a bit, while anyone selling would be sorry in a few months (as has been the case for about 6 years now).

2008 May 23 10:36 AM

[imacademic:]

When an article or a comment is based on a mere RUMOR, or an action is Rumor motivated - the
Rumor was a success.
I have come to believe that a Rumor serves a specific purpose-to call attention to or create a frenzy - for the benefit
of the person from whence the Rumor originated.
I could be wrong, but I kinda
sorta think it makes sense. Yeah.

2008 May 23 09:28 PM