Merrill Lynch: two new iPods due by first half of '05
updated 12:45 pm EDT, Mon October 25, 2004
Two new iPod models?
Merrill Lynch says that Apple will likely introduce by the first half of 2005, according to Forbes: "We believe Apple could introduce a flash memory-based iPod in the first quarter of 2005. The new iPod would signal a departure from the thinking that an iPod should hold all a person's songs. We estimate that Apple might be able to charge $149 for a 256MB (60 song) unit. We think Apple could quickly become a significant player in the fragmented $2.6 billion flash MP3 market." Merrill also said a photo iPod may be released in the near future: "Since iPods are already being used as portable hard drives (HDDs) for files, we believe a Photo iPod is likely to be announced, perhaps in the first half of next year." The firm maintained a 'Buy' rating on the company with a target price of $49 based on a 1.6 times enterprise value-to-sales ratio, which it noted was a 20% discount to Dell.
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Joined: Sep 2004
No way!
No way would Apple sell 256 MB flash based iPods. Steve said with the introduction of the mini that he believes that 4 GB is what it takes to bring your music library with you - now this can be argued, of course. Bringing your music library with you is what the iPod is all about. No way would Apple compromise on this fundamental idea of the iPod. I'm thinking of the possibility of Apple introducing a 4 GB flash based iPod mini with many hours of battery life. Is it viable for Apple to sell 4 GB flash for $249? Can they get the price of those chips down that low to get a profit out of the mini at $249?