iPhone flash memory to ship soon, freeze pricing?
updated 10:35 am EST, Thu March 1, 2007
iPhone Flash Price Freeze
Apple's upcoming iPhone may be entering the earliest stages of production, according to DigiTimes. Sources within the memory industry claim that Samsung is readying its first shipments of flash storage for the cellphone, indicating an early start to the manufacturing process.
The sheer expected demand for flash caused by the iPhone could have a beneficial effect on flash memory prices, the same insiders say. Where competitors Hynix and Samsung have had to drop the prices on their contract offers by a dramatic amount -- by as much as 30 percent, according to reports -- the Apple deal would let the company lock in its prices for the near future by practically controlling the Korean firm's production lines. The effect of the cuts on the iPhone's $499 price tag remain unknown.
