Apple to Benefit Further from Dropping Flash Memory Pricing

[MacRumors]

Forbes reports on Apple's "secret weapon" that has helped keep its earnings well above expectations: falling NAND-flash memory prices. And according to Forbes, there are no signs that this trend will abate anytime soon.

Tech tracker iSuppli released a report last week predicting that the dollar value of flash memory sales will decline this year and next, even as unit sales pick up.

The benefit to Apple will be higher margins for their current products as well as the ability to incorporate higher capacity storage into future products.

The dropping prices may also allow Apple and other companies to put more flash-based hard drives into their notebooks. Apple recently introduced a 128GB Solid State Drive (SSD) option for their MacBook Pro. Apple's iPod and iPhone products could also see higher capacities over time.

Article Link: Apple to Benefit Further from Dropping Flash Memory Pricing

 

[igoldfish]

Larger capacity iPhones/iPod Touches/iPod Nano?

Fingers crossed!

 

[miiles]

Now lets hope that everything gets cheaper too.

 

[JG271]

Good news, should be a few years before SSDs are common on Laptops!

 

[NoExpectations]

Say goodbye to the mechanical hard drive as it joins the floppy drives in the electronics graveyard.

 

[Eidorian]

Doesn't Apple always benefit from falling hardware prices? They rarely drop them between revisions to begin with.

 

[Moriarty]

Well it's nothing new that flash drives are getting cheaper, faster, and higher capacity over time. But it will be several years yet before mechanical drives are supplanted in the consumer market, especially 3.5-inch drives.

As long as mechanical drives are cheaper and higher capacity than a flash drive, there will still be a market for them.

 

[Cinch]

lest not forget SSD is available for MacBook too

and MacBook Air

 

[ThanatosId]

Has anyone successfully swapped their MacBook Air's 80GB HDD with a 64 or 128GB SSD yet?
I expected to see a lot on this process by now...

 

[Virtualball]

I never understood how, at Microcenter, you can buy a 32 GB flash drive for $50 but can't buy a 32 Gb iPhone for $300...

 

[franzmueller]

Well , good to know although for the time been I´m very happy with my 16GB iphone.

Saludos

 

[pismodude2]

32GB iPod Touch? $99.

128GB iPod Classic (w/flash memory & as thin as Touch)? $199

Eventually being able to afford more flash memory than you can fill? Priceless.

 

[chrmjenkins]

can has 32GB iphone?

 

[Shiner]

Now lets hope that everything gets cheaper too.

I wish this would happen but Apple will drop the price long after the should.

 

[Lone Deranger]

Come on 128GB iPod Touch! It would mean could carry my entire library with me....

 

[Porco]

64GB iPod Touch before my next birthday please!

 

[Icaras]

Does this mean we could also see Apple putting solid state hard drives in their desktop line as well, sans Mac Pro of course? I'd personally like to see the iMac and Mac Mini (if it doesn't die) reap the advantages of a SSD too, even if they aren't as advantageous or practical on a desktop.

At least a BTO option??

 

[SeaFox]

Now lets hope that everything gets cheaper too.

No, no. That's the whole point of the Forbes article. Apple isn't lowering their prices as the price of NAND Flash memory goes down. So they actually manage to increase the margin on their products over the long run and when they do an upgrade to a product line they just drop back down to the lower (but still large by industry standards) margin they had before.

 

[pacohaas]

How is this a rumor, or even a news article? I file this one under "Duh".

 

[DoNoHarm]

weight of SSD drives

Hey people, is there a weight benefit to ssd's? I mean if you compare a 120gb hd vs a 120 gb ssd, is there a noticible weight difference?

 

[djjclark]

I never understood how, at Microcenter, you can buy a 32 GB flash drive for $50 but can't buy a 32 Gb iPhone for $300...

I think the 32GB eMMC nand flash chips (Toshiba) are just now entering sampling with full production to begin early next year. When you only have room for one chip you have to wait for die shrinks to occur.

 

[guzhogi]

Now lets hope that everything gets cheaper too.

+1. But this is Apple, so it won't happen. They never lower their prices. Apple prefers higher margins than higher volume, from what I've seen.

 

[sfh]

why would apple drop the prices? "we" will still buy them at the original price point, often paying more than we should too.

 

[arn]

How is this a rumor, or even a news article? I file this one under "Duh".

seems the trend is particularly exaggerated for flash-memory and Apple benefits more than most companies since it uses so much of it,

arn

 

[Eidorian]

seems the trend is particularly exaggerated for flash-memory and Apple benefits more than most companies since it uses so much of it,

arn

Other companies actually drop their prices and alter components slightly when hardware prices do down.