Reuters is reporting that Salomon Smith Barney have issued a statement saying they believe the P1 is on track for being introduced this July at MacWorld. According to the Reuters report:
Salomon Smith Barney analyst issued a report saying he believes that Apple's new consumer portable computer is on track for launch at MacWorld next month.
In the past week, some reports on the Internet have surfaced speculating that Apple is having production problems with the much-anticipated consumer portable and that it could be delayed. One report, on MSNBC.com last week, went as far as to say that Apple was even considering scrapping the project.
"There were reports last week that Apple's new consumer portable might be delayed," said Richard Gardner, a Salomon Smith Barney analyst, in a report to clients. "We believe the new product is on track for a July 21 introduction."
Apple officials in Cupertino, Calif. declined to comment on any details of unannounced products, nor will they confirm analysts' speculation that the rumored product will be launched at MacWorld in New York on July 21, where interim chief executive Steve Jobs is due to give a keynote address.
"We announced it awhile ago, saying we would announce it in 1999," said Natalie Welch, an Apple spokeswoman. "Unfortunately, we are not announcing anything further. We said we would release it in 1999 and we are on track."
There is more in the Reuter's report that is worth reading and, as always, we encourage you to do so.
The Mac Observer Spin: This is very interesting. Apple is notoriously tightlipped when it comes to advance product information. This is certainly more so the case with Steve Jobs at the helm. One of the first things he did upon assuming the throne at Apple was seal all the numerous leaks that were saturating the Internet. Ms. Welch's statements quoted in the Reuters report is actually much more informative than normal. Rather than saying we just don't comment Mr. Gardner, she confirmed that the P1 is on track. Whether that is true or not is another matter, but we believe it to be the case.
Richard Gardner is perhaps the most Bullish Wall Street analyst on Wall Street, but it is still a bit unusual to see Wall Street leap into the Rumor Game. As Mac users on the web know, nothing piques the interest of Mac users more than a juicy Apple tidbit, but the Wall Street Boys and Girls are more interested in seeing information affect the stock market. In today's case, the effect was a big jump in Apple stock. We will cover that in the Apple Stock Watch report shortly.
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