Apple Store Goes Offline, Raising Prospect New Product Is Coming
August 17, 2011, 12:59 PM EDTBy Peter Burrows
Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.’s Internet store is offline, fueling speculation that the company is making way for a new product.
After slow loading times, the site has displayed the “We’ll be back soon” message, which Apple typically uses when it’s updating its lineup. Amy Bessette, a spokeswoman at Cupertino, California-based Apple, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple has relied on new models and product lines to maintain growth this year, even as consumer technology spending has slowed in the rest of the industry. Apple briefly passed Exxon Mobil Corp. to become the world’s biggest company by market value last week, bolstered by the iPad and iPhone, and a burgeoning business in China.
Apple rose 39 cents to $380.87 at 12:36 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares had climbed 18 percent this year before today.
--With assistance by Sarah Gill in New York. Editors: Nick Turner, Lisa Rapaport
To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Burrows in San Francisco at pburrows@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
