Apple delays new operating system, stock off 3 pct

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 12 (Reuters) - Apple Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday it was delaying the release of its new computer operating system, sending its shares down 3 percent.

The company said its eagerly anticipated iPhone was on schedule to ship in late June as planned after passing several of its required certification tests.

But it said delivering the phone on time contributed to the delay of the next version of its OS X operating system, code-named Leopard, until October because the company said it had to divert resources to the iPhone.

"iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price -- we had to borrow some key software engineering and ... resources," Apple said in a statement.

Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies in San Jose, California, said the delay in Leopard could slow the pop in sales that normally comes from die-hard Apple computer fans, who will now likely wait to buy new computers.

"I actually think the effect is going to be somewhat negligible," Bajarin said.

Leopard is expected to boast new features including a file back-up feature called "Time Machine" and improvements to its e-mail and instant messaging software. Another feature allows users to move from their standard desktop view to an archival view showing every change made to a particular file.