According to iPOD watchers Apple is set to release 8GB and 10GB versions of the Nano iPod after Samsung developed new larger flash memory capacity for the devices.
The new devices will not have touchscreens, and it is believed that Apple will eliminate the smaller 2GB and 4GB models.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster claims that the rumoured tochscreens on the Nano iPods as the touchscreen iPod will not appear until 2007, and the move to deliver new larger sized Nano’s is based on the claim that “Apple needs to launch something eye-catching in time for the lucrative run-up to Christmas – and bigger capacity nanos fit the bill nicely” he said.
Apple itself has hinted that iPod prices are due for a spot of pruning. “We expect [the average iPod selling price] to be down a little bit in the June quarter,” said CFO Peter Oppenheimer recently. Reading between the lines, this doesn’t necessarily mean that iPod prices will drop, but that Apple could be predicting increased sales of the cheaper Shuffle and nano models
