Tim Bajarin: Apple's iPod Nano - The Replacement for the iPod Mini

Tim bajarin writes about the sleek new iPod Nano at Technology Pundits. The Flash-based Nano replaces the iPod Mini, is pencil thin, has a color screen, and comes in black or white in 2GB ($199)) and 4GB ($249) capacities. Bajarin believes:

This is the most important new iPod since the iPod Photo was released and will be the hottest product this Christmas. Apple’s own timing for this launch, and the fact that they will be in channels WW by the end of this week virtually assures them that this will become the top MP3 player this fall...This is a pretty important product for Apple and the market since it introduces not only a new and radical design, but a mainstream use of flash memory in MP3 players. Other vendors beat Apple to the market with flash players, but Apple has now run circles around these competitor’s designs and will take the leadership role again in this space.

Apple continues to deliver. This is one sweet-looking device although $199 is still not mainstream yet. Get it down to sub-$99 at 1GB and replace the Shuffle and then you will see the market take off. However given the BOM cost of the color screen that might not happen for a while...