iPod rumors
Dec. 26th, 2003 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmcirvinThose low-end-iPod rumors that I was scoffing at weeks ago seem to be converging on less extravagant numbers: 2GB and 4GB "mini-iPods", smaller than the existing models, with the 2GB one somewhere in the $100 range and the 4GB one more like $200, appearing (or maybe just announced) in January so as not to cannibalize the raging Christmas demand for the bigger models.
But for these rumors to make any sense, Apple would still have to have a supplier of itty-bitty hard drives with manufacturing costs lower than we've seen so far, and, in particular, some way to make a 2GB drive cheaper than a 10GB one. Apple's all about margins on hardware, and they're not likely to sell something on which they can't make a bundle per unit. Technology marches on, though, and it's possible they've found something; the rumors tend to speak of new Toshiba drives. If they can really pull this off, they'll be in a sweet spot in which they can do tremendous volume.
I'd said that there's a gap in the product line for flash-based miniPods that work well with iTunes, but Rob Enderle's notion that the rumored models are flash-based (can't find the link at the moment) doesn't make sense unless the rumored capacities are vastly exaggerated, which is certainly possible. (Enderle's usual stock in trade is perennial buzz about Apple's imminent demise; this is one of the few times he's said anything positive about them.)
But for these rumors to make any sense, Apple would still have to have a supplier of itty-bitty hard drives with manufacturing costs lower than we've seen so far, and, in particular, some way to make a 2GB drive cheaper than a 10GB one. Apple's all about margins on hardware, and they're not likely to sell something on which they can't make a bundle per unit. Technology marches on, though, and it's possible they've found something; the rumors tend to speak of new Toshiba drives. If they can really pull this off, they'll be in a sweet spot in which they can do tremendous volume.
I'd said that there's a gap in the product line for flash-based miniPods that work well with iTunes, but Rob Enderle's notion that the rumored models are flash-based (can't find the link at the moment) doesn't make sense unless the rumored capacities are vastly exaggerated, which is certainly possible. (Enderle's usual stock in trade is perennial buzz about Apple's imminent demise; this is one of the few times he's said anything positive about them.)