Cornice Introduces 2.0GB Mini Hard Drive

[MacRumors]

Today, Cornic introduced a 2.0 GB
"Storage Element" (PDF). The new storage device "will allow electronics device manufacturers to build new pocket-able products that store more music, video, and pictures as well as more office productivity files such as presentations and word processing documents."

The 2.0GB Storage Element is available in volume quantities now for a list price of $70 per unit in quantities of 100,000 per year.

These 2.0GB drives may be one of the last pieces of the Mini iPod rumor puzzle that has taken over the Mac-web in the past few weeks. We had previously noted Cornice as a potential source of inexpensive drives for the upcoming iPods.

[Flowbee]

So 2 of these drives in the 4gb model??

[ddbean]

...crossing fingers, toes...

[dho]

Hmm, I wonder which computer company will be using them first.

thats a tough one

[TheT]

So there they are, the mini iPods... too bad, one suprise less tomorrow. I bet Apple's not happy they made it official today rather than tomorrow

[ibookin']

Haha. I just submitted the Ars Technica article, and when I refreshed macrumors.com, I saw that it had already been posted. Ars speculates on this drive going to the iPod themselves.

The Ars Technica Article

[Waluigi]

Hopefully this will drive the prices down and capasity up for the USB flash drives. $70 for 2GB in the flash market is unheard of by a long shot. Maybe a little competition of mini hard drives will make that a reality.

--Waluigi

[steadyeddie]

Originally posted by Flowbee
So 2 of these drives in the 4gb model??

Why not 4? or 6? Introducing... the iPod RAID!

[pkscout]

But at $70 in quantity for just the drive, I don't see how Apple can hit that $100 range we've been hearing about. Maybe $150 or $200, but it'll cost more than $30 to add the electronics, manufacture it, and distribute the thing.

[Some_Big_Spoon]

Has to be said: Seems a strange coincidence that these are "officially" announced (though info has been widely avail. for a bit) the day before MacWorld..

[lem0nayde]

So - if the drives are $70 a unit. I guess the miPods won't be coming in at $100. That can't leave room for much profit. Looks like $150 - 200 is more likely.

Am I wrong? I know nothing of these things.

[Kid Red]

So $70 retail would be what, close to $50 wholesale maybe? If true maybe Apple can get slow to $99, maybe $129 or something?

[Flowbee]

Originally posted by steadyeddie
Why not 4? or 6? Introducing... the iPod RAID!

...iRAID

[srobert]

Reading the article I don't see the word: "DRIVE" anywhere. Only: "STORAGE Device/Element" Anyone has an idea if this will be made of platters and heads?

[Awimoway]

Originally posted by TheT
I bet Apple's not happy they made it official today rather than tomorrow

If I were Steve, I would keep my cheeks planted on the meditation rug all day long before a Keynote so that I didn't have to hear about all the leaks. Maalox moment, anyone?

[bobindashadows]

Originally posted by pkscout
But at $70 in quantity for just the drive, I don't see how Apple can hit that $100 range we've been hearing about. Maybe $150 or $200, but it'll cost more than $30 to add the electronics, manufacture it, and distribute the thing.

If I remember correctly, the bulk price for the drive of the original iPod was the same as the iPod itself, meaning Apple got some good deals.. (God knows they weren't selling them at a loss)

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by srobert
Reading the article I don't see the word: "DRIVE" anywhere. Only: "STORAGE Device/Element" Anyone has an idea if this will be made of platters and heads?

Ars says it's a hard drive, just simpler than the microdrives that have composed earlier products.

[dongmin]

$70 seems pretty expensive. Could Apple get a discount for maybe ordering 500,000 or one million or them???

If the HD alone cost $70, then we're talking at least $150, I'm guessing.

[IndyGopher]

Originally posted by Kid Red
So $70 retail would be what, close to $50 wholesale maybe? If true maybe Apple can get slow to $99, maybe $129 or something?

I don't think retail buyers would cotton to having to buy 100,000 of them.. a year.. but maybe I'm just a cheapskate.
That price is already wholesale. (and contractual, to boot)

[KLFloyd]

Originally posted by TheT
So there they are, the mini iPods... too bad, one suprise less tomorrow. I bet Apple's not happy they made it official today rather than tomorrow

Yep, can you see Steve's face as he opens up the MacRumors site today. You KNOW he looks at the major rumor sites prior to his Keynote to see what's leaked.

Bet he's pissed.

[gunb0y]

$129 sounds about right... to most people they don't see $129 and being much more then $100. I think thats exactly what i would pay for a 2 gig ipod (as long as it had the same features as the regular ones).

[andyduncan]

Originally posted by srobert
Reading the article I don't see the word: "DRIVE" anywhere. Only: "STORAGE Device/Element" Anyone has an idea if this will be made of platters and heads?

Cornice doesn't like to call them drives, as basically all they are is a platter and a head. Marketing-babble aside, they are hard drives, just stripped down to the essentials.

[ddbean]

At $70 for 100,000/yr, I wonder what the price is for 1,000,000/yr?

[srobert]

Originally posted by IndyGopher
I don't think retail buyers would cotton to having to buy 100,000 of them.. a year.. but maybe I'm just a cheapskate.
That price is already wholesale. (and contractual, to boot)

Maybe Apple could have an even better deal by purchasing 10x more (1,000,000) a year. My bet is that Apple could sell more that a million minipod a year if they're anything similar to their big brother iPod.

EDIT:

ddbean, you beated me to it by a second ^_^

[Phatpat]

If I remember correctly, when the original iPods were announced, the drives were selling for $399, the same as the iPod itself. I'm sure Apple can find a way to make it work.