Why is Apple buying up the world’s NAND flash memory supply?
By Will Park on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 6:12 PM PST In Apple, Devices, Rumors, iPhone, iPhone OS
Apple feasts on NAND memory modules like no other tech company out there. With over $1.2 billion in NAND flash memory purchases for 2007, Apple has cemented its position as the largest buyer of NAND memory chips on the planet. With that kind of volume, Apple’s variable demand for cheap flash memory (which Apple uses in their iPod and iPhone lineups) drives the global NAND market up and down, seemingly on a whim. The latest swing in global flash memory prices has ThinkEquity Partners blaming Apple for eating up the world’s supply of NAND chips.
The question is, just what is Apple up to?
Apple’s refreshed iPhone 3G
Apple might be ramping up iPhone 3G production in anticipation of launching a refreshed iPhone 3G. We’ve been expecting Apple to refresh its iPhone lineup with a new iPhone 3G variant sporting either a larger, higher resolution display; more on-board storage capacity, perhaps 32GB worth; or even both. Apple would need a lot of NAND memory chips to build out a fleet of 32GB iPhone 3Gs.
Apple’s CDMA iPhone 3G
If Apple is indeed planning to bring their iPhone 3G to Verizon Wireless, they’d need to start slapping together a new batch of iPhone 3Gs with CDMA radios. Regardless of the number of iPhone 3Gs sitting in stock-rooms the world over, Apple will have to crunch out more CDMA variants if it plans to blitz the US market. But, rumors being what they are, leave Apple’s CDMA iPhone 3G intentions in doubt.
Apple’s next-generation iPhone
Not the iPhone 3G, but perhaps an iPhone 4G (or whatever it ends up being called)? Unlikely as it might be, Apple might already be planning a new iPhone form-factor. From the rumored iPhone Nano to the iPhone Tablet to the iPhone HD to the multi-core iPhone, Apple has been rumored to be working on all sorts of super-portable mobile devices packed with NAND flash memory. Is Apple poised to launch a new breed of iPhone or some other portable mobile device? Time will tell…
Got an opinion? Sound off in the comments!
[Via: AppleInsider]
If Apple is indeed planning to bring their iPhone 3G to Verizon Wireless, they’d need to start slapping together a new batch of iPhone 3Gs with CDMA radios. Regardless of the number of iPhone 3Gs sitting in stock-rooms the world over, Apple will have to crunch out more CDMA variants if it plans to blitz the US market. But, rumors being what they are, leave Apple’s CDMA iPhone 3G intentions in doubt.
Because control freak Jobs must control everything. The only problem with this is that as he buys the last chip, the next chips will just be cheaper and more advanced as other companies buy them up. But apple customers will be stuck with 1+ year old technology at a higher price because apple over charges. They are also probably trying to influence markets and profit from that as well. It’s such an over rated brand, and most people buy it due to brain washing from apples commercials. Their best device is the ipod which has a manipulative way of working with music. Their desktops suck, are over price and over rated. But once an itard gets brainwashed their mouths move as they chatter, and no information is going in because their brains have stopped functioning. After watching dozens of stupid apple adverts they rush into comments, however their fingers bang on their shiny white apples chinsy keyboards, but again the brain is not in gear. They are usually college students that use daddy’s credit cards so they don’t care, but some of them are like 35 years old and up because they never quite grew out of that stupid stage. Their eyes like pinwheels you can argue all day with them. But thankfully there are people you can charge double for products and they feel great about it, LOL. I almost ran over an ipod user the other day. They are kind of like mindless lemmings walking into the streets. You can spot them by the white ear buds, and the mouth chattering all the time about their savior jobs. quite amazing… almost.
Bitter?
AT&T still has a 5 year exclusive in the US IIRC. That tables any discussion of VW getting the iPhone.
It’s a new product, it has to be. An updated iPhone 3G, with 32GB internal storage, most likely. There are also persistent rumors of the iPhone ‘Nano’ with maybe 8GB, as a loss leader/mass market version.
With the state of the semiconductor market as it is, I’m sure Apple was able to secure a huge discount on the memory chips. I’d still like to see an expandable iPhone with a microSDHC slot, though.
1. Apple will not release a version of the iPhone that is not compatible with the applications in the app store. So forget a nano or something with a different screen resolution or size.
2. Apple does not like to go backwards in their technology so building a CDMA device when CDMA will be phased out in a couple of years (in favor of LTE) by Verizon would be odd. Also, a CDMA version is useless for travelers to Europe or Asia, in fact to most of the rest of the world.
3. If you are going on rumors, the most logical would be an updated 3G phone with better camera, improved processing power (though multi-core is unlikely), more memory, better battery, maybe thinner and improvements to the OS.
It must be hard to live with such an anti Apple complex.
Wow marsworms, hate apple much? Here are my 2 cents as a 25 year Windows user and as a 2 year Windows mobile phone user. Mac has its place as an easy to use operating system. They do rarely break and people who are less technical should definately consider one. They do offer less customization and less options than a PC many times but for 80% of the world, they are fine. If their marketing brainwashes people into buying them, bravo!, welcome to capitalism at its best. I do have to admit though, that after using a windows mobile phone for 2 years, then switching to a borrowed iPhone after my screen got smashed, that I wont go back to the windows mobile phone. I love the iPhone for its features, supreme ease of use over the windows mobile os, integrated iPod, movie player, superior mobile web browser, and reliability. I wont go back to windows mobile ever.