Katie MarsalApple Computer has sold out of its higher-capcity iPod digital music player and doesn't plan to restock until next year, according to a message on its Web site.
Not surprisingly, mid-January is also the time Apple traditionally unveils its latest consumer products at the Macworld Expo trade show in San Francisco. This year's festivities are set to kick-off on January 10th.
At least one analyst has gone on record in saying that a new, smaller, version of the iPod shuffle is being prepped for a release around the same time.
"We are hearing of an even smaller form factor (smaller than a pack of gum) and the potential for the re-introduction of multiple colors," said American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu in a research note from November.
Wu believes the new shuffle could come as early as January and said Apple's preparation for the product refresh was likely behind its recent move to add Hynix as a third supplier of NAND flash memory chips.
Apple introduced the iPod shuffle in 512MB and 1GB models on January 11th. The 512MB model — which is still available from Apple and Amazon.com — was termed the "first iPod under $100."
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38 Comments
The first thing I thought of when I read that Apple was working on a smaller shuffle was the iPod flea spoof ad the New York Times did.
Seriously, could the shuffle get any smaller and still be operated without tweezers? The only thing I can figure is that it will get squarer (or rounder) and less pack-of-gum-ish.
This I think highlights one of the dumbest things about Apples product marketing and development. They need to release new products BEFORE the Christmas shopping season, NOT RIGHT AFTER! Its silly to release new products in January after lots of people have just blown through a good chunk of their disposable income for the year.
Hopefully they are improving on that, with the release of the Nano and Ipod + Video before Christmas. But they should move MacWorld Expo to August if they are going to continue to use it as an event to launch products and draw attention. In August, if they have products available at anouncement, they could still capture a lot of back to school purchases, and have things released in time for Christmas.
This I think highlights one of the dumbest things about Apples product marketing and development. They need to release new products BEFORE the Christmas shopping season, NOT RIGHT AFTER! Its silly to release new products in January after lots of people have just blown through a good chunk of their disposable income for the year.
Hopefully they are improving on that, with the release of the Nano and Ipod + Video before Christmas. But they should move MacWorld Expo to August if they are going to continue to use it as an event to launch products and draw attention. In August, if they have products available at anouncement, they could still capture a lot of back to school purchases, and have things released in time for Christmas.
Like you said, they ARE doing better. iPod nano / video capable iPod, iMac, powerbooks, powermacs ALL just before the holiday season. They can't update EVERYTHING in October you know.
Seriously, could the shuffle get any smaller and still be operated without tweezers? The only thing I can figure is that it will get squarer (or rounder) and less pack-of-gum-ish.
IMHO, the shuffle is small enough. Any smaller will be unoperational.
What Apple can do is same physical size, small internal circuitry, and bigger battery.
Bringing back multi-colour and aluminum casing would be great!
This I think highlights one of the dumbest things about Apples product marketing and development. They need to release new products BEFORE the Christmas shopping season, NOT RIGHT AFTER! Its silly to release new products in January after lots of people have just blown through a good chunk of their disposable income for the year.
Tons of companies release new products just after Christmas for that very reason. Everybody has just bought items and spent a lot and companies need to rekindle sales. What better way than to release a new range?
Apple's biggest two sellers were updated prior to Christmas though.