Sluggish sales of 1.8-inch drives may signal end to iPod classic
As flash memory and solid state drives become the new standard, Samsung and Toshiba have struggled to sell their latest high-capacity 1.8-inch hard disk drives, perhaps signaling that the end of an era is imminent for the iPod.
The flash memory-based iPod touch, nano and shuffle, long ago made the HDD-based iPod classic the odd duck of the family. Given changes and trends in the market, the grandfather of iPods could be nearing the end of its product life cycle.
A new report from Ars Technica says the latest 250GB 1.8-inch drive from Samsung has failed to gain any traction in the market, either from PMPs, like the iPod classic, or netbooks. Only Samsung and Toshiba continue to make 1.8-inch drives, and the latest Samsung model lacks IDE and SATA connectors.
"That Toshiba's IDE and SATA drives aren't picking up adoption in the netbook and PMP spaces means only one thing," the report said. "The 1.8" hard disk appears to be dying."
Truth be told, HDD-based media players have been on the way out for consumers for some time now. With movable parts in a spinning drive far more likely to break down over time due to regular wear and tear, any traditional mobile hard drive will inevitably stop working.
First launched in 2001, the iPod relied on HDDs for storage capacity as SSD technology had not yet become viable or cost effective for gigabytes of storage. When the first flash-based iPod shuffle debuted in January of 2005, it only carried 512MB or 1GB of storage, but it was a big hit.
Over time, the introduction of the iPod nano and iPod touch made flash players take up the bulk of Apple's offerings. But so far, the hard drive hasn't disappeared.
When it was first rebranded as the iPod classic in 2007, Apple's HDD-based player came in two sizes: 80GB and 160GB, with the latter being a thicker model. One year later, Apple streamlined the brand and began offering only a 120GB model with a 1.8-inch HDD. In part, it was because Apple wanted to stick with the slimmer form factor. But it was also likely a sign that the majority of consumers were not interested in ultra-high capacity for portable media players.
In fact, at the time the 120GB model was announced, a 240GB drive was available, but Apple didn't opt for the upgrade.
Meanwhile, one hard drive-based iPod has already died: The iPod mini. The device ran on a 1-inch Microdrive which featured a spinning platter like a traditional full-form hard drive. In 2005, after two iterations, the iPod mini was replaced by the iPod nano.
SSD availability continues to grow alongside mass-market adoption while prices drop. And the market's expectation is that the iPod touch will again double in capacity this September to 64GB, much like Apple did with doubling iPhone 3GS's storage to 32GB last month.
It's unclear whether Apple plans to push out another revision to the iPod classic this fall. But either way, it appears the iPod classic's days are numbered.
The flash memory-based iPod touch, nano and shuffle, long ago made the HDD-based iPod classic the odd duck of the family. Given changes and trends in the market, the grandfather of iPods could be nearing the end of its product life cycle.
A new report from Ars Technica says the latest 250GB 1.8-inch drive from Samsung has failed to gain any traction in the market, either from PMPs, like the iPod classic, or netbooks. Only Samsung and Toshiba continue to make 1.8-inch drives, and the latest Samsung model lacks IDE and SATA connectors.
"That Toshiba's IDE and SATA drives aren't picking up adoption in the netbook and PMP spaces means only one thing," the report said. "The 1.8" hard disk appears to be dying."
Truth be told, HDD-based media players have been on the way out for consumers for some time now. With movable parts in a spinning drive far more likely to break down over time due to regular wear and tear, any traditional mobile hard drive will inevitably stop working.
First launched in 2001, the iPod relied on HDDs for storage capacity as SSD technology had not yet become viable or cost effective for gigabytes of storage. When the first flash-based iPod shuffle debuted in January of 2005, it only carried 512MB or 1GB of storage, but it was a big hit.
Over time, the introduction of the iPod nano and iPod touch made flash players take up the bulk of Apple's offerings. But so far, the hard drive hasn't disappeared.
When it was first rebranded as the iPod classic in 2007, Apple's HDD-based player came in two sizes: 80GB and 160GB, with the latter being a thicker model. One year later, Apple streamlined the brand and began offering only a 120GB model with a 1.8-inch HDD. In part, it was because Apple wanted to stick with the slimmer form factor. But it was also likely a sign that the majority of consumers were not interested in ultra-high capacity for portable media players.
In fact, at the time the 120GB model was announced, a 240GB drive was available, but Apple didn't opt for the upgrade.
Meanwhile, one hard drive-based iPod has already died: The iPod mini. The device ran on a 1-inch Microdrive which featured a spinning platter like a traditional full-form hard drive. In 2005, after two iterations, the iPod mini was replaced by the iPod nano.
SSD availability continues to grow alongside mass-market adoption while prices drop. And the market's expectation is that the iPod touch will again double in capacity this September to 64GB, much like Apple did with doubling iPhone 3GS's storage to 32GB last month.
It's unclear whether Apple plans to push out another revision to the iPod classic this fall. But either way, it appears the iPod classic's days are numbered.
Comments
Maybe I will go out and buy a refub 160 g or a 120 g current or both .I wish there was a 260 g ssd out soon .
iS THE the current 120 g hd ipod DIFFERENT than the 160 g hd ipod .
And i own a brand NEW UNTOUCHED IN THE BOX ipod touch 32 g I will trade for an in the box 160 g ipod plus something to even it out value wise .
Hope they vastly increase the size of the SSD Ipods before they are going to kill the classic.
Right when they were getting to the size I needed for all my music. I have two 160GB, one sits in my glovebox feeding the car stereo, one is my walkabout that stays docked in my sounddock.
Hope they vastly increase the size of the SSD Ipods if they are going to kill the classic.
I'd guess they double their memory size every 18 months. Just a wild guess.
The idea seems to be that because the 1.8" hard drive does not have a lot of appliations or usages that Apple is going to stop using it, and therefor kill the iPod Classic.
Huh? Why would Apple care about how well the 1.8" drives sells for other purposes? Whether or not the Apple discontinues the iPod Classic has nothing to do with sales of these drives, so long as Apple can get enough of them. In fact, the causality is actually the opposite of what this story posits. Apple would cause a decline in 1.8" hard drives sales by discontinuing the iPod Classic, not the other way around.
Thoguhts?
BUT, whenever I go for a longer bike ride or lay in the park, I have my classic with me and love the fact that it holds my whole 70gb music/podcast collection. Also on transatlantic flights I use it heavily for the tv-shows I put on it (several shows, whole seasons). And on top of that it's a GREAT portable hdd.
The main reason I got the new iPhone 3GS was the 32gb storage for music. But it's still not enough for my personal use. Unless I have 160gb or maybe even 200gb in an iPhone I will happily take my Classic from time to time.
And it's like an 80s Walkman - style, form etc. is a REAL classic already.
I guess they will continue the 120gb classic for another year until flash based iPods can reach that capacity. Maybe not many, but some people like to have a bigger storage iPod.
I use my 120 GB Classic for the car, as I want my ENTIRE library available in the car at all times. I use my 32GB iPhone for day-to-day train commuting and walking use.
If the iPod Touch gets up to 64GB this year, 99% of people will be covered without the need for the Classic to exist. If they get it up to 128 the following year, 99.99999% will be covered. There's always going to be that person who has 500 GB worth of music out there. You can't make everyone happy.
My Classic should last until the 128GB touch comes out, since I don't use it, except in the car and on longer flights. If not, I'm sure the used market will be around for a while.
So far, it has been through two harsh winters, and is on its second summer, and it still works beautifully!
I think they are very rugged machines.
There's goes my dream of ever owning a Gigapod.
While I own an iPod Touch, I find that I don't enjoy using it to listen to music. It's quickly become a portable web-browsing/organizational device rather than a music player, and I find that I frequently carry both devices with me.
The hard disk just isn't as durable as solid state memory and sucks more power.
I own an 80gb iPod classic that I love. It's my favorite portable music player by far, and I love that it can hold my entire 40gb+ itunes library. I'll be sad if the iPod classic is ever discontinued, it gave a great amount of storage for a much more affordable price than the iPod Touch and/or iPhone.
While I own an iPod Touch, I find that I don't enjoy using it to listen to music. It's quickly become a portable web-browsing/organizational device rather than a music player, and I find that I frequently carry both devices with me.
i love my ipod classic 160 gb, but... the big issue for it is that it has small screen size and now just doesnt have the programming capability of the touch.
If apple actually married the Touch programming and screen to the larger sized storage. it would be great and be a huge boost to this storage type. i am sure many of us wouldnt care about flash vs hard drive. we just want large storage and to be able to have full functionality. like genius, movie playback and more.
sorry, there isn't any real reason to give up on hard drives, but there is a reason to say apple hasn't exactly given too much love in the ipod line to it. here apple could be faulted for not updating the classic form to be more modern like the touch if not actually be a ipod touch.
Almost everyone on the NYC subway has a touch, iPhone or some other flash based iPod
Yup! I'm told there are two NYC subway commuters who have Zunes, but everyone else laughs at them.