A teardown analysis performed by market researcher iSuppli found that Apple reduced the cost of materials for the 4GB Nano to $72.24 from $89.97 for the previous 2GB device. The Cupertino, Calif., computer maker managed to get more capabilities for less in the device through design changes and component price declines, iSuppli said Friday.
A list of the components in the new Nano is on the iSuppli Web site, but a key change in design, according to the researcher, is the addition of Samsung Electronics’s system-on-chip that replaces the semi-custom PP5021 SoC from PortalPlayer. The new design also features customized chips from previous Nano suppliers, Wolfson Microelectronics and NXP Semiconductors.
Unlike the Nano, Apple’s new video-enabled iPod, available with a 30GB or 80GB hard drive, had no design or supplier changes from the previous versions, iSuppli said. The new devices, however, have more storage for $50 less, and brighter screens, making them more attractive for playing movies downloaded from Apple’s iTunes store.
Movie downloads were made available Sept. 12 on iTunes, the same day the new iPods were unveiled.
