New iPods expected to have little impact in Taiwan
updated 01:00 pm EDT, Thu October 2, 2008
No iPod impact in Taiwan?
Apple's newest iPods are unlikely to have much impact in Taiwan, despite the popularity of the products around the world, an industry publication observes. DigiTimes notes that the prices of NAND memory, and LCD screens between 2.8 and 3.5 inches, have allowed local companies such as T.sonic and Ergotech to release extremely cheap 8GB media players, costing between $3,000 and $3,500 NT ($94 and $109 US). Some generic "white-box" players may even cost as little as $2,500 NT, or $78 US.
This contrasts sharply with an 8GB iPod nano, which will soon go on sale in Taiwan for $5,300 NT ($165 US). For many people in the country, DigiTimes' sources indicate, any benefits to Apple players are currently outweighed by their cost. Apple may in fact be limited to competing with other companies foreign to the market, such as Japan's Sony, Korea's Samsung and Singapore's Creative.
