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Apple roadmap hints at white iPod touch but few changes in 2011

An update next month to Apple's flagship digital media player may outfit the device in an additional color but may otherwise represent a rather modest refresh when compared to years past, AppleInsider has been told.

The iPod, which struck a resurgence that helped place Apple back on the map in 2001, may for the first time take a back seat to the company's more lucrative and influential devices — such as the iPhone and iPad — when the electronics maker unveils its holiday lineup of iOS devices sometime between mid-August and mid-September.

For years the iPod lifted Apple as its bread-and-butter product but now accounts for a paltry 5% of the company's revenue, according data released as part of its fiscal third quarter earnings report this week. And the majority of that revenue comes from the higher-ASP iPod touch, which accounted for more than half of the 7.54 million iPods shipped during the quarter.

Adding a bit more color to the matter are a series of recent industry checks by Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who told AppleInsider that the iPod touch is the only one of Apple's four iPod product lines that continues to show any semblance of unit growth heading into the second half of the year.

Looking into the current third calendar quarter, Kuo said checks indicate Apple has placed orders for white iPod touch models that are expected to go into mass production sometime in late August, but he added that the build plans for those models reflect few, if any, distinguishable changes from the existing black models introduced last fall.

"It means no spec update of iPod touch this year," he said.

And while such claims may or may not pan out, it's worth noting that the same round of checks by the analyst revealed earlier this week that Apple's production roadmap for its legacy white MacBook appeared to drop off in August, and that no future updates were expected. Within days of those checks, Apple formally discontinued sales of the white MacBook to consumers, relegating the notebook to an education-only product.

(It's believed that Apple will continue to manufacture white MacBooks through the summer to fill orders for educational institutions before discontinuing the product altogether.)

Asked why he believes his checks into this year's iPod touch update will similarly prove accurate, Kuo said it's all about a priority shift towards the market-leading iPhone and the iPad, which now combine for a whopping 68% of Apple's sales. Unlike years past when Apple updated the iPhone in the summer, met initial demand, and only then began sharing components with the iPod touch in the fall, this year's iPhone refresh has been pushed inline with that of the iPod touch.

"[The] iPhone and iPad have higher priority to get shared components of iOS devices when the supply chain is tight (especially after the Japan quake)," Kuo said, suggesting that Apple has such high expectations for the fifth-generation iPhone that it may not be confident it could secure enough components to introduce a similarly-equipped iPod touch around the same time.

For perspective, Apple shipped at least 33 million iOS devices last quarter, struggling to build enough iPads the entire stretch. That quarter included 20 million iPhones, and it wasn't a new iPhone quarter. The iPhone 4 actually celebrated its first birthday near the end of the 3-month span.

Apple has proven that it can beat at a pace that is sometimes beyond the scalability of its suppliers, and is now pouring billions into those companies to make sure they catch up so it doesn't have to slow down. In addition to mass production of the iPhone 5 in September, Kuo says Apple has an ambitious but, for those reasons, tentative plan that could see a new iPad enter production only a few months later.

Although the "plan might change," the analyst's current checks have a new iPad hitting the manufacturing lines sometime in the fourth quarter. He says, however, that it's unclear when Apple plans to introduce it to market.

"Component suppliers will start to ship for next iPad in mid 3Q11 and MP date will be in 4Q," he wrote in a communication to AppleInsider. "The demand forecast is strong and Apple prefers to allocate shared components to iPhone and iPad." Kuo added that TPK currently acts as the sole source for touch-screens for white iPads but that Wintek will start sharing those duties in September.

iPod 4,2

The analyst's checks aside, there's been little to no evidence thus far to suggest a material update to the iPod touch is near production. No reports have surfaced with talk of parts or supplier contracts for a new model, and even Apple's own iOS betas are already dropping hints at two versions of an iPad 3 but haven't turned up mention of a fifth-gen iPod touch. Instead, the last few releases included references (above) to an unreleased "iPod4,2," which identifies it as a player based on the existing, fourth-gen iPod touch architecture.

Should Apple indeed forgo an architectural revamp of the iPod this year, the advent of a white model could serve to re-energize sales in a move similar to the one that played out a few months ago with the arrival of the white iPhone 4.



55 Comments

matthewmspace 15 Years · 38 comments

The only spec I expect to see 100% is an A5 chip. 80% chance that it will get a 3 MP camera (like it was wrongly predicted in 2009 and 2010 it might get), and a 50% chance of 128GB storage. The only things we really need are those features. Other commenters, what else do you think it needs?

OutdoorAppDeveloper 16 Years · 1292 comments

You are reading this information the wrong way. The iPod Touch will begin to be phased out this year. It will likely only ship in a single low cost $200 8GB model (in white perhaps). The high end models starting at $300 will be replaced with a new pay as you go iPhone. The iPhone would be able to do everything an iPod Touch can currently do plus have access to cellular voice and/or data. Apple may even throw in some kind of free data service for app and iTunes downloads like the Kindle does for books. If they make the right deals, it could even come with limited free web browsing and iCloud syncing. Perhaps a low cost subscription to play online games. The possibilities are endless. This new iPhone would be in addition to the premium upgrade to the iPhone 4. It would have a thinner design and look a lot like the existing iPod Touch. Expect its camera to be lower resolution than the iPhone. This information is all speculation but it fits well with Apple's strategy and the other leaks.

jakevin. 14 Years · 71 comments

I think we'll see a white iPod touch (makes sense) with A5 and maybe a slightly better camera (3MP sounds about right). I can certainly see them discontinuing the Shuffles with Nano's so similarly sized and so the line between the two devices being blurred. I don't think we'll see an end to the touch anytime soon as Apple will use it as the 'training wheels for the iPhone' in the sort of 9 - 16 year old range. I don't think we'll see anything updated except for the Touch in the iPod line but Apple will need to do something with it all soon as sales are certainly not increasing.

matthewmspace 15 Years · 38 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by GrangerFX

You are reading this information the wrong way. The iPod Touch will begin to be phased out this year. It will likely only ship in a single low cost $200 8GB model (in white perhaps). The high end models starting at $300 will be replaced with a new pay as you go iPhone. The iPhone would be able to do everything an iPod Touch can currently do plus have access to cellular voice and/or data. Apple may even throw in some kind of free data service for app and iTunes downloads like the Kindle does for books. If they make the right deals, it could even come with limited free web browsing and iCloud syncing. Perhaps a low cost subscription to play online games. The possibilities are endless. This new iPhone would be in addition to the premium upgrade to the iPhone 4. It would have a thinner design and look a lot like the existing iPod Touch. Expect its camera to be lower resolution than the iPhone. This information is all speculation but it fits well with Apple's strategy and the other leaks.

Your plan actually makes more sense. I forgot about the other rumors. Sorry to offend any iPod touch users out there! My only iOS device is a iPod Touch 4G 64 GB that is jailbroken on iOS 4.3.3 untethered.

smallwheels 15 Years · 584 comments

I just want the iPod Touch to get Garage Band. I know it can run on an A4 but the A5 would be better. All Garage Band would need is different screen layouts. Doubling of the memory of the iPod Touch would be a really good idea. Having a 4" screen would be a huge change for the positive. It could become my portable computer. With Airplay it already can work with TV sets.

I don't care about colors because I'll be buying a heavy duty case for it. The smaller iPods lost my interest because the new Nano is just stupid. It had video and a video camera. Now it just has a tiny touch screen that allows people to reposition the image. What a waste of technology.

There comes a time when things get too small. I hope Steve turns the Nano into the smallest iPod at a much lower price, even though I don't want that model.