Report: Quanta wins video iPod contract
updated 10:30 pm EST, Tue March 21, 2006
Quanta wins iPod contract
Apple may be switching video iPod suppliers or adding more capacity, according to a new report. In its Wednesday edition, The Economic Daily News reported that Quanta Computer has secured contracts from Apple for the manufacture of video iPod devices. Inventec Appliances Corp is the current video iPod manufacturer. Quanta is already the world's leading contract maker of notebook personal computers, according to Forbes.com; the company recently also began manufacturing Apple’s MacBook Pro, according to a previously published report. The new report says that Quanta has won certification for its output and will begin delivery from next month -- the same time frame that some analysts expect a new version of Apple's high-end video iPod.
In a research note to clients, analyst Shaw Wu said that Apple, which has notified resellers that its 60GB video iPod is "at risk" of being replaced and/or discontinued, may be prepping a widescreen video iPod with Bluetooth support; however, UBS analyst Ben Reitzes said that new Apple products -- including the rumored Intel-based iBook and 17-inch MacBook Pro -- will make their appearance without a much-anticipated special media event around the company's 30th anniversary on April 1st.
