iPod delay rumors harm flash pricing

Industry observers say the rumored delay of Apple's next-generation iPod nano corresponds to an average 10 percent sequential drop for mainstream density NAND flash chips, while Hynix Semiconductor along with Samsung Electronics are said to be provoking a price war. Mainstream NAND continues to drop following an initial upside in May, and the price drop has ballooned to as much as 14.4 percent for the 1Gbit part as of July 6th, according to DigiTimes. SanDisk is rumored to have proposed a price reduction for its finished products, and industry sources say that Samsung is quoting its single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash at a level near to that of multi-level cell (MLC) offerings, in an effort to avoid losing customers while attracting more orders, according to the report.

Consumers favor phones over iPods...

More consumers are avoiding iPods in favor of all-in-one phone devices. One user interviewed by BusinessWeek Online who previously carried both a phone and an iPod now favors a phone that holds 100 songs, treating her iPod as an extra accessory. "It made sense to just use my phone for both," said Rachel Slack. The trend should be worrying Apple, according to the report, because new $500 phones are now reaching the capacity of a top-end iPod nano at four gigabytes. Some analysts believe that this new type of phone with more memory is creating a new threat to Apple's iPod, as well as its iTunes Music Store.