Next iPod nano to be delayed?

In this morning's report, Wu says it's likely that the higher-capacity Ipod nanos will be released in the fourth quarter of this year rather than the third, skipping over the critical back-to-school season when Ipods have traditionally seen sales peaks. Share prices for Apple immediately took a nosedive, falling by 3% in value by mid-afternoon to about $55.68, and refusing to level off.

Apple's move from PortalPlayer to Samsung was first revealed by the losing party itself, which lamented the loss of business during a conference call last April. Apple's 2005 selection of PortalPlayer as a multimedia processor supplier for Ipod was heralded as a contract that could put the small, San Jose-based ASIC manufacturer on the map. Without Apple as its key customer, PortalPlayer has had to drastically scale back its operations, announcing earlier this month the termination of 45 employees - 14% of its workforce - as it struggles to provide integrated multimedia chips to customers such as Acer and Asustek.