“Japanese electronics conglomerate Hitachi Ltd. said on Friday its supply of 1.0-inch disk drives was running behind demand and that it would ramp up output at its Thailand plant as soon as possible,” Reuters reports.
“The comments came after Apple Computer Inc. said on Thursday it would delay global sales of its new iPod mini digital music player until July due to tight supplies of hard disk drives (HDDs). Neither firm has confirmed Hitachi makes the iPod drives, but as the sole commercial maker of 1.0-inch drives with 4-gigabyte storage capacity, which Apple uses in its iPod mini, Hitachi is widely believed to be supplying HDDs to the U.S. computer maker,” Reuters reports. “‘We are planning to boost production at our plant in Thailand, and it will come sooner rather than later,’ a Hitachi spokesman said.”
Full article here.
okay….i just got home from work..guess what, this is a foregone conclusion.. component makers will ramp up production…got it? good.
Yeah, no kidding. And they could not have done/decided this sooner?
Sorry, just needed something to bitch about since my coffee isn’t ready.
I’m sure Apple ALREADY knew this when they said availability will be tight until July. I’m sure Hitachi told Apple before they told the world.
So I don’t think this will make things less tight than that. Rather, I think this is why Apple didn’t say Minis would be scarce through September or something!
Does this mean that Thurrott will ramp up his rhetoric as well?
Of course. It is clearly Apple’s fault for not kicking Hitachi’s behind to get them to ramp up as quickly as possible. Oh yeah, and iPod mini is overpriced too and isn’t selling well.
The Apple fanatics credo: “Apple can do no wrong, it is always everyone elses fault.”
And you still are a nobody…
Jim S,
Explain.
“The Apple fanatics credo: “Apple can do no wrong, it is always everyone elses fault.”.”
Apple basher’s credo: Don’t use the product, don’t learn about the product. Just pretend to be an expert on all things Apple and look like a complete fool to everyone with an educated opinion on the subject.
Chomper
Are you talking to me? Care to clarify what you mean?
Like I thought. Another WinTroll spouting off drivel, with nothing to back up his outburst.
BTW, I’ve followed the Mac crowd since Jan’84. They bitch loudest when Apple gets something wrong. And as I’ve witnessed first hand, it’s the Windows owners that except everything that Bill slops out for you.
You are definitely confused. You are definitely viewing an image of yourself and then projecting.
Wow there are so many things that are kept secret.
“Neither firm has confirmed Hitachi makes the iPod drives, but as the sole commercial maker of 1.0-inch drives with 4-gigabyte storage capacity, which Apple uses in its iPod mini, Hitachi is widely believed to be supplying HDDs to the U.S. computer maker,”
Its a “Duh” on this one. What is still shrouded in mystery is “Who owns Fairplay?”
Things are getting out of control in this thread. Clearly Apple has overpromised in the area of product delivery in the past. Part of that is undoubtedly driven by us vocal Mac users who are anxious to get our hands on the latest and greatest and another part is likely due to the usual problems that crop up during a rapid product development/testing cycle. Certainly Apple management has failed in its role from time to time, allowing a premature product announcement to make the company look bad via a late delivery. Other companies who push the technological edge have the same problems. Dullards who mass-produce commodity products from “standard” parts from lowest-cost suppliers face just a subset of those problems.
The iPod mini is an example of a cutting edge product using a just-released, cutting edge, miniaturized HDD that is not available in sufficient quantity. Apple is delivering iPod product, just not enough to satisfy demand. Perhaps Apple underpredicted demand – they would certainly have done if they had listened to the “expert” naysayer “costs too much” feedback that filled many Apple forums. But I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and accept that Hitachi is producing these 1″ HDD’s just as fast as they can so that they can maximize *their* revenues and profit.
In other words, chill out and wait if you want an iPod mini. Find another subject if you don’t plan on buying an iPod mini.
Selling too many is a lot better than having them sit on shelves.
Apple has to be, and I am sure is, very aware that quality control has to be paramount. A bad lot of hard drives will do a lot more damage than late delivery would, so I bet that some of the delay is due to being careful that the hd supplier (whomever they “may” be)is doing a good job.
Hello MacBuddy, you said that; “They bitch loudest when Apple gets something wrong.”
Please give me a current example of something you could bitch loudest about that Apple did something wrong.
For those that were sleeping…
And never heard the ‘Mac crowd’ bitching about…
– the pricing of 10.3 (aka Panther)
– the pricing of the ipod mini
– faulty hinges on SOME current-model iBooks
– the lack of the ‘speed-bumped’ G5s
– Apple not releasing the HEADLESS iMac
– iLife being a pay package now
Is that specific enough for you? But, MORE importantly – is that current enough for you?
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Just because many in the ‘Mac crowd’ bitched about these things doesn’t mean that they’ll switch to Windows, just yet. And it doesn’t mean they’re mindless KoolAid guzzlers either. You need to ‘see’ the difference.
As someone once said, ‘Apple sucks! To which his buddy said, “Maybe, but not as much as Microsoft does!
Hey MacBuddy,
You forgot:
– no G5 PowerBook, iMac, eMac…
– no iTMS for Europe, Canada, Asia, etc. =(
Although, like you said. This is definitely not enough to switch to Windows. =)
Righto.
I also ‘forgot’ to mention the bitching about…
– iPod mini colors
– Price diff between 15GB and iPod mini
– No new hardware – less the XServe – last Macworld
– the need of G4 and DVD ONLY for GarageBand
– $40 iPod earplugs
– no WMA for iTunes/iPod (even tho’ M$ doesn’t support AAC or even MP3 (MP3 playback ONLY w/ shareware plug-in!)
– no FairPlay for Napster, BuyMusic, MusicMatch, et al.
– no $99 iPod Flash player
Crikey, with all that bitching ‘we’ do, why stick with the platform?
Oh, yeah. It’s the KoolAid, or the SJ-RDF, or the mindlessness of the MacCrowd!
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