Weekly Highlights: Apple Inc. iWatch Could Skip iPhone 6 Event, iCloud Hacking Not A Problem And More

Apple's long-awaited September 9 event will almost certainly involve the company's next iPhone. The iWatch was rumored to join in on the fun, but a new report claims that may not be the case.

Apple might actually wait until 2015 to unveil the company's first smartwatch, which is reportedly still undergoing engineering verification testing.

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Apple investors can rest easy knowing that the iCloud controversy is unlikely to interfere with the company's upcoming press event.

Benzinga reached out to numerous experts (including those who specialize in security) and none of them seemed overly worried about Apple's future.

"I don't think it's really going to matter at all in the long term," tech industry expert Jeff Kagan told Benzinga.

"I honestly think that it will blow over rather quickly," said Brett Golden, president and co-founder of The Chart Lab.

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Investors might want to take this one with a grain of salt, but a new report claims that handset manufacturers in Taiwan have not received as many orders as they anticipated from Amazon.

Facebook was also mentioned in the report, which is interesting because the company is not a smartphone manufacturer.

To make matters worse, Microsoft could reduce its orders for Lumia-based Windows Phones.

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Phablets may never outsell their smaller counterparts, but Apple is still expected to release a larger iPhone this fall.

IDC's latest report might explain why.

According to the report, phablet shipments will reach 175 million units in 2014, outpacing laptops by five million units.

In 2015, phablet manufacturers may collectively ship 318 million units to retail. By comparison, only 233 million tablets are expected to be shipped next year.

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After tackling smartwatches and television sets, Apple will need another new product category to go after. Could it be video games?

Sean Udall, the CIO of Quantum Trading Strategies, thinks that the answer is yes.

"An obvious area that Apple could probably come in and disrupt massively -- and I mean massively -- is probably gaming," Udall, who authors The TechStrat Report, told Benzinga.

"Think of a Kinect on steroids," he said of an Apple game machine. "You could have a completely touch-less gaming environment. That would be very interesting."

Not everyone is convinced that Apple should head in this direction, however.

"I don't see gaming," tech industry expert Jeff Kagan told Benzinga. "I see the devices. But the devices are continuing to grow and they're continuing to be more important to more people in more ways."

Brett Golden, president and co-founder of The Chart Lab, thinks that Apple should focus on other things.

"I think there's much better, more exciting markets to go after than the gaming industry," Golden, whose company provides quantitative advice solutions for retail and institutional investors, told Benzinga.

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Connected car startup Zubie announced that it had teamed up with Progressive Insurance to reward consumers who drive safely.

"The Progressive partnership is really powerful and really interesting," Tim Kelly, CEO of Zubie, told Benzinga.

"Progressive has been the market leader in the insurance category in using usage-based information to help rate policies. Because our Zubie customers are out driving everyday, we are able to capture the same type of information in our cloud that Progressive uses for underwriting purposes in its Snapshot program."

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The preceding slideshow was just the beginning. Check out these other hot stories right here on Benzinga.

• iPhone 6 Image Leak: Real Or Fake?
• How Much Will The iPhone 6 Cost?
• iPhone 6 Demand Sets New Record
• Apple's Improved Upgrade Cycle Could Drive iPhone Sales

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