Here are the latest Apple rumors from the blogosphere:
“Despite a public acknowledgement by Apple that recent retail store staffing changes were “a mistake” and have been reversed, store employees still haven’t received an official explanation of the changes, and signs persist of a continuing focus on revenues and profit instead of customer satisfaction. Sources say employee performance standards have changed to emphasize the employee sales functions, more small products will be stocked at the stores, and that several budget categories have been slashed, including for store maintenance. All the while, morale continues to drift lower among many retail store employees” — “ifoAppleStore” (www.ifoAppleStore.com)
“In his quarterly report on Apple Store economics, Needham’s Charlie Wolf notes that same-store sales grew just 3.2% in the June quarter, down from 23.3% in March. ‘Despite a continuing expansion of the Apple Store footprint,’ he writes, ‘store revenues have not kept pace with the growth in Apple’s revenues because of the rapid expansion of the company’s iPhone and iPad distribution network. We expect this trend to continue’.”– “Fortune” (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/)
“Apple, the company that always pledges to be different and wants to be held to a higher standard than everyone else, is apparently looking to shift its retail policy into one that is more in line with the rest of the industry.” — “TGDaily” (www.tgdaily.com)
“We’re just days away from the launch of the iPhone 5 (aka “new iPhone”) and the Apple [AAPL] stories are coming fast, with new features, new accessories, a chance to replace Samsung in processor supply and fresh questions as to the inclusion — or not — of NFC support within the new smartphone.” — “Computerworld” (http://macte.ch/hBqnE)