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Apple to Release 1GB iPod nano?

Monday, December 19th, 2005 at 3:20 PM - by Staff

With Apple producing around 100,000 iPod nanos daily, the company has been considering the introduction of a 1GB version. AppleInsider reporter Prince McLean cites "reliable sources" who said that Apple's marketing team met last week to discuss how such a model would be introduced, and what impact that would have on the iPod shuffle.

Mr. McLean added that Apple is expected to release a redesigned iPod shuffle during next month's Macworld Conference & Expo San Francisco; the 1GB version is currently sold out until next month, according to Apple's Web site.

The AppleInsider report also said that sources expect Apple to price a 1GB iPod nano at US$149.99, "which poses the question of whether the iPod maker could sustain its profit margins on such a model." Mr. McLean quoted an anonymous Wall Street analyst that such pricing "may be tough ... but Apple has proven that customers are willing to pay for style over storage capacity."

The analyst added that Apple earns more profit from the 2GB iPod nano than from the 4GB version, and that the company could sell a 512MB iPod shuffle for as little as $79.99.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Dec 19, 2005 4:47 pm

A 1 gig nano? LOL - my 4 year old granddaughter would love one! But then she has my original 5 gig iPod which is serving her well.

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Tiger said:

member since 17 Jun 2003 with 1018 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:21 pm

Let's discuss storage capacity for a sec to shed some light on it.

Most people have large capacity hard drives on their computers these days, bet they Mac or Wintel. If you have a 40Gig hard drive, you will typically use 10-15 for applications and maybe another 10 for storage. But if you have ever had any experience with a hard drive that is truly gotten full (not just an erroneous warning that your drive is full due to some disk error), then you know first hand it's a bad thing. You don't ever want to run out of room for your files on your hard drive.

Now take an iPod. For the most part, the files stored on them are heterogenous in nature. Music, photos, and now videos, make up the bulk of what's on an iPod, with a few exceptions for those hardcore people determined to make their iPod a PDA.

That said, it is much easier to manage these types of files versus a computer hard drive that is gunked up with drivers, libraries, and all sorts of things. So, you ask where am I going with this in relation to a 1G iPod Nano?

Well, since the iPods are easier to manage, people feel more comfortable buying smaller capacity drives and buying the cool quality factor versus just the quantity factor of the 20, 30, 40, and 60 Gig models of late. 1, 2, 4, and 6 Gig iPods are all still appropriately marketable AND desirable. I have over 400 G of hard drive space in my computer, but I have a 1G iPod Shuffle. It's just that easy to manage. And the Shuffle is still cool. Mine is in a purple skin, using an iMojo arm band and nice white aftermarket earbuds.

Sure, it doens't have a LCD screen. Heck, my vision's not that good to begin with, so I will rely on my ears. I'll save the video for at home on my 19" LCD on my computer or the 32" television.

Bring on the 1G Nano.

Oh, but while you're at it Apple, why not design the iPods so that the drives can be replaced and upgraded as your customers want them. If you buy all the NAND flash to begin with, you can offer the upgrades through your retail stores and VAR's anyway and not lose out on the revenue!

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:51 am

Yeah, Apple really wants to make the iPod drives user servicable. I'm sure they hate people having to buy new iPods every few years when the warranties are up and the hard drives die. I mean love Apple products or hate them, one thing is certain, Apple is by no means altruistic.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:56 pm

Guest wrote:
A 1 gig nano? LOL - my 4 year old granddaughter would love one! But then she has my original 5 gig iPod which is serving her well.

You gave a 4 yr old an iPod? And she hasn't broken it or gone deaf or anything?

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:12 pm

1 gig Nano would probably be a winner... if the price really was $149. If they tried to charge more than that, no dice. And it would have to come in both black and white, just like the other Nanos.

Don't know why the article questions Apple being able to make a good profit on a 1GB Nano... flash memory is most of the cost of the Nanos, and a 1 gig model doesn't use much of it, obviously.

The only real difficulty for Apple would be what all this does to the Shuffle. If they kept the 1GB Shuffle around, it'd probably have to drop to $99 to remain viable. And the 512MB would either drop to $79 or be killed off entirely.

Interesting. Choices, choices...

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:15 pm

Guest wrote:
A 1 gig nano? LOL - my 4 year old granddaughter would love one! But then she has my original 5 gig iPod which is serving her well.

Kids these days...

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