14 DAY TRIAL // Oh, hush-hush now, no one's eating your iPod touch. The device is, however, living in the shadow of the iPhone, analysts say, and with the 3G model on everyone's lips, Apple's iPod touch has been kind of left out in the cold lately.
According to a recent World of Apple piece, analyst Ben Reitzes of Lehman Brothers has pointed out to clients this week that Apple's 8GB iPod touch is currently showing a shipping delay of 1-2 days on orders made via Apple's online store. The cautious analyst claims that stock is on the downside as a result of Apple's back-to-school promotion, which hands out free touches to students who purchase a Mac.
"If you're a student, teacher, or staff member and you buy a Mac with your education discount before September 15, 2008, you can get a free iPod touch or iPod nano after rebate," Apple says on its website. The catch is, however, students must buy a qualifying Mac and iPod with the Apple education discount starting June 3, 2008, through September 15, 2008 and, while supplies last, they are "eligible" for a rebate of up to $299. Nevertheless, that spells an iPod touch (unless you want to set a world record and own all available models of the iPod shuffle). All this being said, let's head back to Reitzes' predictions.
The analyst also told investors that Best Buy was experiencing reduced supplies of 16 gig touches, the same source reveals, with no explanation as to why this was happening. The analyst does point out that Apple needs to drop the price on its iPods to put it back on track with the iPhone 3G, as a good selling Apple device.
"We believe Apple will need to reposition the iPod touch product by September now that the iPhone acquisition price is lower," the analyst notes in the report. "We expect the iPod touch to experience significant cannibalization from lower-priced iPhones," the analyst warns.
A price drop for the iPod touch is indeed in order, and likely to happen, so expect an official announcement soon. Chances are first-gen iPhones will also see a drop in price.