Friday, November 12, 2004
Apple to begin manufacturing flash-based iPod next month
Posted by James Fee in "NEWS" @ 05:00 PM
"According to contacts in Asia, the computer company will build a stock-pile of approximately 2 million flash iPods before the product begins shipping world-wide in late-January or early February. The new players are slated to be announced at the annual Macworld trade show in San Francisco during the second week of January. Though precise specifications were not readily available, the flash iPod will reportedly use controller chips from Austin, TX-based SigmaTel, and feature a storage capacity in the range of 256 Megabytes to 1 Gigabyte. Sources were unable to confirm if the player would be released in more than one configuration. The iPod flash will retail for below (US)$200 and sport a similar user interface to the company's ubiquitous iPod and iPod mini. Despite comments from Apple chief executive Steve Jobs that flash-based digital music players are often received as gifts, rarely used, and "end up in a drawer," market share figures speak for themselves. Although the iPod holds a whopping 92% slice of the pie for hard drive-based players, this figure shrinks to 65% when flash models are tallied as part of the mix."
I guess lock them into iTunes at a lower pricepoint and keep them from buying music on Napster or MSN Music... Seems like a step back to me, but then again, I've never owned a flash based player.
I guess lock them into iTunes at a lower pricepoint and keep them from buying music on Napster or MSN Music... Seems like a step back to me, but then again, I've never owned a flash based player.
