Buried in a USA Today story about the fast-growing popularity of flash memory and the possibility of shortages, price increases, etc. — a suggestion from Semico Research chip analyst Jim Handy that the Nano is costing Apple money. “The Nano is so inexpensive that Apple is probably losing money on it, with the hope of profiting through music sales and later models, Semico’s Handy says.” So Apple could be using a new loss leader to push an existing one in iTunes.
In the same edition, the paper adds to the Nano buzz with a look at the new micri-mini’s out-of-the-box success and its contribution to Apple’s continued hold on the global MP3 market. Nano’s success is juxatoped with Rio’s failure. One prediction: Nano will fuel sales of 26 million additional iPods by the end of the year — close to equalling lifetime sales. But Apple’s suite won’t be complete to some unless it includes a real iPhone.
The same article dismisses Microsoft’s Play For Sure and Microsoft Janus-reliant subscription services, claiming the services only work on a “handful of devices.” Last check, it works with more than 70 devices produced by more than a dozen companies. For the record, Rafat’s already added a Nano to his U2 iPod; we’re a two-Creative Zen Micro household.
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