Strong sales of new iPods could cause a shortage of NAND flash memory in the second half of this year, according to a new report by Gartner. The market research firm expects Apple to introduce a new, high-end flash-based iPod with 10GB to 12GB of storage capacity and a price of about $250.
Gartner said such an iPod, which it expects by the fourth quarter of this year, would contribute to the shortage. “The impact of an iPod with this storage capacity will have significant implications for the NAND flash market,” said Jon Erensen, an analyst at Gartner.
“If a high-capacity NAND-based iPod is introduced, the severity of the allocation will intensify during the fourth quarter of this year, and our outlook of supply and demand for the first quarter of 2007 could become more severe than initially anticipated.”
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