Anyone interested in the technology industry is probably aware of the stakes riding on Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:$AAPL) upcoming release of the iPhone 8. This has been a highly-anticipated product ever since Apple first made the announcement. The iPhone will drop this fall, but there’s some bad news for those already looking forward to purchasing the device.
The downside is that the iPhone 8 is already out of date in terms of wireless speeds. Why? Because Apple Inc’s new iPhone will not include gigabit LTE, which the latest ideal in mobile data. This means that the iPhone 8’s data speeds will be much slower than a number of devices that are already being sold on the market, such as Samsung’s Galaxy S8.
Bloomberg reported that these slower speeds are not caused by technological ineptitude, but rather they are caused by Apple’s long-running quarrel with Qualcomm (NASDAQ:$QCOM), an American telecommunications equipment company. Bloomberg stated the following: “The reason stems from the delicate and sometimes complicated way Apple manages the supply of the components embedded in its flagship device — in this case, the modems, which handle the connection between a phone and the cellular network. One of Apple’s suppliers, Qualcomm Inc., sells a modem capable of the 1-gigabit download speeds. Another supplier, Intel Corp. (AMS:$INCO), is working on a modem with the same capability, but it won’t be ready for the iPhone’s introduction, according to people familiar with Apple’s decision.”
With that said, don’t fret Apple lovers! Chances are you won’t even notice the difference. As of right now, gigabit LTE is not available in any markets and the emergence of it will be just as slow as wireless carriers progressively upgrade their networks to support new innovations.
Android diehards, on the other hand, will use this development as a major reason to avoid the iPhone 8, but tech experts find it to be very unlikely that this will impact sales. That said, when gigabit LTE does find it’s way onto the market, Apple Inc. will be forced to add it to their devices. Many speculate that when this occurs, Apple will add the modems to the second generation of the iPhone 8 (often referred to as the iPhone 8s).
Keep in mind that Apple Inc. shares were trading at $154.75 per share on Friday morning, which means that it was down $0.24, or -0.15%. So far this year, AAPL has increased 34.74% versus a 10.00% rise in the S&P 500 index during the same time frame.
Currently, AAPL has a StockNews.com rating of a Strong Buy and is ranked as the #1 stock out of 27 stocks in the Technology-Hardware category.
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