A new report from investment bank Goldman Sachs predicts that Apples 2008 releases will include a 3G iPhone and a modified Apple TV. According to AppleInsider, the research report was written by Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey and was based on information obtained from component suppliers in Asia.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson have indicated that a 3G iPhone is planned for release next year, although there has been no formal announcement. The second-generation iPhone is currently being designed, the Goldman Sachs report said, and will have a form factor similar to the current model.
PENT-UP DEMAND
The impact of the iPhones highly successful U.S. launch in June, and the iPods position as the leading portable media player, has reignited media curiosity about what Apple has coming up. Similar reports are likely to increase in the run-up to the annual MacWorld show, which has been a launch pad for earlier Apple products.
Bailey is quoted as saying that the new iPhone will debut in the second half of 2008, but that a smaller upgrade with more flash memory is expected earlier in the year. Some observers have speculated that a 3G iPhone will be announced at the MacWorld conference in January.
Although the iPhones recent launch in Europe was "pretty good," according to IDC analyst Chris Hazelton, it wasnt as boffo as the reception in the U.S. One factor noted by Hazelton is that there are several competing 3G smartphones in that market, so the device wasnt perceived as being as unique there as here.
He said that there is "pent-up demand" from some potential customers in the U.S. and elsewhere who are waiting for a second-generation version of the iPhone, with 3G.
FLASH LAPTOP?
Baileys report also said that Apple not only will modify its Apple TV to include an LCD display, but also update its entire Mac lineup. Citing manufacturing sources, Bailey also said the iPod Touch was being produced in higher-than-expected numbers.
Several news agencies have reported that Apple will introduce an ultraportable, 12-inch Mac laptop with flash memory instead of a hard drive. CNBC and others have said that this product, which would be 50 percent thinner than current MacBook Pro models, could be introduced at MacWorld for about $1,500.
Doug Bell, an analyst with industry research firm IDC, noted that "the hurdle for flash-based notebooks is price." As component prices come down, he said, such models might eventually reach a point of cost-per-gigabyte that appeals to the price-sensitive consumer market, which is Apples main focus.
Flash memory has remained significantly pricier than standard hard drives, and Bell noted that its ruggedness is the added value for which some enterprises -- such as utility companies with on-the-road repairpersons -- can justify the higher cost.
