Apple will replace iPod Nano with Nano mobile phone: analyst
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JP Morgan says Apple will replace its popular iPod Nano MP3 player with an inexpensive Nano-style mobile phone by the end of the year.
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Apple is expected to introduce new iPods next week for the third September in a row as it tries to corner the video-player market.
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Apple Inc. is scheduled to make an announcement today that analysts expect will be iPod upgrades.
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Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs disclosed a host of major upgrades to the popular line of iPod music players during a news conference in San Francisco yesterday. But then Jobs topped himself with an unexpected bombshell - a $200 price cut on the new iPhone cellphone.
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By completely overhauling its line of iPods, Apple cements its lock on the portable-media-player market. Analysts say no one else is close in combining features with aggressive prices.
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Investor's Business Daily - As more cell phone makers launch handsets that also play musie, Apple Computer  (NASDAQ:AAPL - News) looks poised to defend its turf by going on the offensive with an iPod music player capable of making phone calls.
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Forbes, a site not usually known for rumour-mongering, believes Apple and U2 will announce special customized U2 iPods next week. The report cites &quot;sources close to the group&quot;, who claim
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(InfoWorld) - Apple Computer's recent introduction of several new iPods shows the company is looking for better profit margins, not gaining market share, according to researcher Gartner. And the move could boost its rivals. The top sign Apple is going for the green is its lack of aggressive pricing, according to Gartner analysts Joseph Unsworth and Jon Erensen in a Monday report. The second-generation iPod Shuffle, for example, could have been priced closer to $49 to stimulate demand from users, since the cost of materials going into it amounts to only $30, the analysts said. Instead, the shuffle is priced at $79. The company could have also priced the new 8GB product lower than $249, since its materials only cost $130, Gartner said, the same with its 4GB, which at $199 is far higher than the $90 worth of materials inside, and the 2GB version, which is $149 and is made from materials costing only $70. The two Gartner researchers even lamented Apple's decision to discontinue the 1GB nano, which they say could have been a nice mass-market item for around $99. "Apple is in a secure position atop the portable media player market and has decided to strategically focus on its margin this time," the analysts said. Indeed, AppleÂ continued to leadÂ the U.S. digital music player market in the second quarter with a 75.6 percent share, according to the NPD Group, followed at a very distant second by SanDisk at 9.7 percent and Creative TechnologyÂ in third with 4.3 percent of the market. But a lack of revolutionary new functions in the latest lineup of iPods coupled with just a small price reduction could give rivals,Â Microsoft and its new ZuneÂ in particular, room to gain market share this year. For one thing, Apple's rivals may not be affected by strained component supplies, since Apple won't be taking as much as it could, according to Gartner. The market researcher had predicted a shortage of NAND flash memory chips in the fourth quarter due to strong sales of portable media players, USB (universal serial bus) flash drives, and other products requiring the chips. While it still forecasts a shortage, the situation won't be as severe as previously thought, the analysts said, perhaps a 3 percent shortfall rather than the 4.6 percent shortage originally predicted. NAND flash, one of the key data storage components for iPods, is 60 percent cheaper than last year on average, and with Apple's huge investment in NAND companies, it could have priced its iPods more aggressively to keep its market share, the analysts said. In addition, Apple's rivals won't have to work so hard this year to keep up with the iPod because the new lineup does not redefine the portable media player market like it did last year, Gartner said. And finally, the company only trimmed nano prices by $50, different from the past when the company's aggressive price cuts forced competitors to lower prices and increase storage capacity to compete. Jill Than, a spokeswoman for Apple in Hong Kong, declined to immediately comment.ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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Two new iPhones, including a 3G version, could be part of Apple's plans for next year along with a puzzling rumor about Apple TV, according to the financial giant.
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(InfoWorld) - The number of iPhones manufactured by Apple may not be enough to meet customer demand when the smart phone goes on sale later Friday, CEO Steve Jobs said in an interview published the same day. "We had to make our best guess as to what the demand was going to be and what supply we were going to put in place many, many months ago. We built factories to build these things and everything. We've taken our best guess but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it ain't enough," Jobs told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. The iPhone, which combines the functions of an iPod with a smart phone, goes on sale in the U.S. at 6 p.m. and is one of the most anticipated gadgets in recent years. Two models will offered, the 4GB model costs $499 and the 8GB model is priced at $599. Users also have toÂ sign a two-year contractÂ with carrier AT&T. The cost of those plans range from $59.99 per month to $99.99 per month. Some prospective buyers have beenÂ camping outside storesÂ in hope of being among the first to own one of the new smart phones. A surge in demand for the iPhones could mean the devices are hard to come by at first, depending on the number that Apple and AT&T have in stock. A shortage of iPhones would not be unusual. Vendors often have a limited number of units to sell when a new product hits the market. In the case of products where demand is particularly high, such as for new game consoles, limited product availability -- whether intentional or not -- andÂ long lines outside storesÂ help build buzz and generate media coverage. Jobs also downplayed concerns over the iPhone's dependence on AT&T's EDGE network, which is slower than 3G (third-generation) networks. "You know every (AT&T) Blackberry gets its mail over EDGE. It turns out EDGE is great for mail, and it works well for maps and a whole bunch of other stuff. Where you wish you had faster speed isâ¦on a Web browser. It's good enough, but you wish it was a little faster. That's where sandwiching EDGE with Wi-Fi really makes sense because Wi-Fi is much faster than any 3G network," Jobs told the Wall Street Journal. He said the iPhone had been designed to switch to Wi-Fi when such networks are detected. Â
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Apple has revealed details of its battery replacement plan for the iPhone.
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Apple Inc  on Wednesday said the company was cutting the price of its iPhone and was on track to sell one million phones before the end of September.
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a new, &#8220;completely remastered&#8221; version of the iPod nano on Tuesday at a special press event in San Francisco, sporting a new case that comes in a  variety of colors. Apple last updated the iPod nano in February, when it released a GB model.
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Banners hanging at&#160;Macworld Expo&#160;on Monday read, &quot;2008: There&#39;s something in the air,&quot; suggesting wireless news to come in CEO Steve Jobs&#39; keynote Tuesday morning.Faster cellular service for the iPhone is already on its way later this year, AT&amp;T&#39;s top executive reportedly said in November, but Apple could go beyond that plan and extend high-speed wireless WAN (wide-area network) capability to its MacBook notebooks and even a rumored &quot;ultramobile&quot; computer.Many consumers have been clamoring for more speed on the iPhone since it was announced a year ago with support only for Wi-Fi and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), a version of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) that generally runs below 200Mbps. U.S. iPhone carrier AT&amp;T Wireless and other operators around the world already have a set of faster systems called HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) that can deliver more than 1Mbps.At the same time, wide-area wireless has been moving into PC notebooks and smaller PC-like devices. The big notebook vendors, including Dell, Lenovo, and Hewlett-Packard, have rolled out products with built-in 3G. And the Asustek Computer Eee PC and some other small UMPC (ultramobile PC) devices are slated to ship with WiMax.Apple hasn&#39;t made the leap. Mobile Mac owners can hook up to Wi-Fi hotspots but have to buy dongles or other add-on devices from third parties to get fast wireless elsewhere. Offering a built-in 3G card would give MacBook users access to broadband in far more locations.However, that leap would take Apple into a market that hasn&#39;t attracted a large percentage of notebook buyers, analysts said.At least in the U.S., 3G radios are associated with a particular carrier and usually sold along with two-year data contracts. Users keep notebooks longer than they do phones and don&#39;t want to lock them down to a particular carrier, said Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin. In addition, many notebooks are purchased by enterprise IT departments, which demand more flexibility, Golvin said. He doesn&#39;t expect to see another iPhone phenomenon.&quot;I don&#39;t think that laptop users would be as interested in aligning themselves formally with one particular carrier,&quot; Golvin said. One alternative would be to build in a chip that could handle more than one carrier and 3G technology, he added.Avi Greengart of Current Analysis believes Apple&#39;s proven ability to streamline could change the picture.&quot;They have not been in the forefront of 3G on notebooks. However, it wouldn&#39;t surprise me at all if they came out with a simplified offering that just made a lot of sense and became the catalyst, as the iPhone is,&quot; Greengart said. Apple simplified the iPhone experience for customers by sticking with one carrier and letting subscribers sign up with AT&amp;T through iTunes.Apple could also jump-start the market by offering an alternative to the expensive monthly service model that carriers typically use, said Gartner&#39;s Ken Dulaney. Most consumers don&#39;t travel frequently enough to justify spending US$30 or more per month for cellular service on their notebooks, but they might be willing to buy a system with built-in 3G and pay for service as they need it, he said. Verizon has a little-known offering like this, in which users can pay $15 for 24 hours of service, according to spokesman Jeffrey Nelson.Because of its greater mobility, a rumored Mac that&#39;s smaller than a notebook but bigger than the iPhone would be an ideal candidate for 3G. If the company unveils it on Tuesday, that product could lead Apple&#39;s new wireless charge.But that &quot;something in the air&quot; could be a number of other things, too, analysts said. Apple is expected to make its SDK (software development kit) for third-party applications on the iPhone available next month, Greengart said. And the iPhone could gain GPS (Global Positioning System) capability, or some iPods could get Wi-Fi, he said. As always, it&#39;s all speculation until Jobs speaks.&#160;
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Blog: One analyst firm thinks Apple can juice up its iPod product lineup simply by releasing an iPhone without the phone or Internet capabilities.
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NEW YORK (Billboard) - U2 and Apple Computer Inc. are  expected to announce next week that they have signed a deal to  sell custom iPods.
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(InfoWorld) - Apple will follow up its debut iPhone with a cheaper version based on the iPod nano, a JPMorgan financial analyst said yesterday, echoing comments last week by bloggers scouring the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database. Kevin Chang, a Taiwan-based analyst with New York's JPMorgan Chase, said that Apple will release a less-expensive iPhone in the fourth quarter, according to Reuters. Chang, who based his forecast on unnamed sources in the supply channel and an Apple application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filed last week, said a follow-up to the current iPhone could be based on the iPod nano, Apple's flash drive-based music player. "We believe that iPod nano will be converted into a phone because it's probably the only way for Apple to launch a lower-end phone without severely cannibalizing iPod nano," Chang told Reuters. At $300, a scaled-down nano-based iPhone might sell as many as 30 million to 40 million units in 2008, Chang argued. Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, has fixed the iPhone sales target through 2008 at 10 million handsets. Apple's iPod nano currently sells for between $149 and $249. Chang's take comes after bloggers last week noticed a July 5 patent application titled "Touch pad with symbols based on mode" that, they theorized, could serve as the interface for an entry-level iPhone. Both Unwired View and MyiTablet, for instance, noted that the patent described a touchpad-based device that would serve as only phone and iPod. Unlike the current iPhone, the cheaper alternative would not boast a large screen or allow Internet browsing. The patent application spells out a touchpad similar to the iPod's click-wheel that would change modes -- and its display -- depending on the application. When in phone mode, for example, the circular touchpad could show dialing numbers in a style reminiscent of long-obsolete rotary phones. Switch to music mode, and the touchscreen reverts to a traditional iPod click-wheel for traversing artist or genre lists. Apple introduced the iPhone on June 29 to fanfare and long lines of customers.