Seagate hoping to get 60GB and 120GB drives into iPods

If you haven't been paying close attention to the theoretical glass ceiling that the iPod has struck, you may not realize that Apple's darling has been capped at 60GB for quite awhile now. While the iPod with video is, in our humble opinion, very ripe for a refresh, the holdup could be history if Seagate has anything to do with it. The world's "largest hard drive manufacturer" isn't fazed by the recent flash-based memory craze, and feels that even NAND can't oust the tried and true storage platters on its own. William Watkins, the company's CEO, recently stated that he felt quite secure in his operations, and that while flash memory had its place, consumers needing spacious drives for backup and home / vehicle media storage will be skipping over the small stuff and heading straight for the hard drives. Regardless, recent analyst reactions to the less-than-stellar financial performance from the company has sparked questions about how it plans to stage a comeback in a flash-driven world, and the answer just might be the iPod. Watkins noted that Seagate hasn't been competitive in the high-capacity 1.8-inch drive arena, but we latched onto a certain comment regarding his intentions to change that -- in regards to 60GB and 120GB 1.8-inch drives, Watkins claimed that the company "will have one in the December quarter," which is obviously prime fodder for new iPod speculation (you know, since that's the holiday shopping season and all). While we weren't told outright that Seagate was in line to supply Apple with these larger drives, we sure hope somebody hooks it up with more capacity, and besides, there's never a time like the present to crank up the rarely-stagnant Apple rumor mill once again.

[Rohit Kapur @ Aug 14th 2006 3:29PM]

"The world's "largest hard drive manufacturer" isn't phased by the recent flash-based memory craze,"

Guys, it's 'fazed', not 'phased'.

And damn, bring out the next gen iPod already, Apple!! I've been holding out on buying a new one for 2 years now!! I STILL have my 3'rd Gen one and I love it. I don't want any push button iPod. I really hope the next one is all touch and no click.

[ben @ Aug 14th 2006 3:35PM]

No, it's "phased" - they speak UK english here.

[Josh! @ Aug 14th 2006 3:35PM]

phase Audio pronunciation of "phased" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fz)
n.

1. A distinct stage of development: “The American occupation of Japan fell into three successive phases” (Edwin O. Reischauer).
2. A temporary manner, attitude, or pattern of behavior: just a passing phase.
3. An aspect; a part: every phase of the operation.
4. Astronomy. One of the cyclically recurring apparent forms of the moon or a planet.
5. Physics.
1. A particular stage in a periodic process or phenomenon.
2. The fraction of a complete cycle elapsed as measured from a specified reference point and often expressed as an angle.
6. Chemistry.
1. Any of the forms or states, solid, liquid, gas, or plasma, in which matter can exist, depending on temperature and pressure.
2. A discrete homogeneous part of a material system that is mechanically separable from the rest, as is ice from water.
7. Biology. A characteristic form, appearance, or stage of development that occurs in a cycle or that distinguishes some individuals of a group: the white color phase of a weasel; the swarming phase of locusts.


faze Audio pronunciation of "fazed" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fz)
tr.v. fazed, faz·ing, faz·es

To disrupt the composure of; disconcert. See Synonyms at embarrass.

[kp4a @ Aug 14th 2006 3:38PM]

Hows about a update on fake apple product form language? That video ipod is totally 4g.

[bob @ Aug 14th 2006 3:42PM]

lets hope that seagate dont feck up like they did with amstrad, driving their computer business in to the ground due to faulty hard drives!!

[Tonicboy @ Aug 14th 2006 3:43PM]

Well, I think that the "glass ceiling" has a lot more to do with consumer demand than technical limitations. Apple has seen its iPod sales dominated by Nanos and 30GB iPods. Demand is already weak for the 60GB iPod, so what's the point of putting in a more expensive drive when consumers aren't really asking for more capacity? While I am one of the few exceptions with a 90GB music collection, the vast majority of consumers are happy with 4/30GB of space.

[Jim F @ Aug 14th 2006 3:54PM]

Video can make those gigabytes disappear quickly. It makes sense to put a larger capacity drive in the next-gen iPod if it will indeed be more video-centric as has been rumored.

[The Grand Master @ Aug 14th 2006 3:54PM]

All I have to say is that as long as the price is kept the same for the 60/120 versions and they have a touch screen design like the one picutred it will be awesome!
Instead of getting a dedicated ext. HD I could use my iPod and my Nano is about to explode it could easily fill the void.

[liltimmy @ Aug 14th 2006 3:57PM]

That picture looks pretty nice... It would be pretty bright making a touch screen iPod, now that I think about it, since it would make the Zune look aged by comparison. But Apple doesn't need bigger iPods... it needs cheaper ones. The current one haven't changed price for what,2 years now? Yes there is supply and demand, and all but still, this is pushing it.

[Catdogburger @ Aug 14th 2006 4:19PM]

Ipod?....I thought they were extinct. :P Actually, thats all we here now is about Ipods, even all the university students want Ipods more than beer! Just stop waiting for a new "version of" Ipod and get an Archos AV 500 (it has a 100 GB version)...and the wait will be over! :D

[Brandon @ Aug 14th 2006 4:27PM]

Maybe it's for the Microsoft Zune...in which case they may sell a couple thousand drives.

[astutefool @ Aug 14th 2006 4:34PM]

As regards to there being no demand for > 60gb hard drives in ipods. They would be useful if Apple sold iTunes songs in Lossless format and I'm sure everyone would like to store their songs in Lossless. That would surely be the death knell for CD's?

[Will @ Aug 14th 2006 4:46PM]

Let's not forget that the majority of people are still rocking 20, or 30 GB Hard Drives on their computers. I know that Engadget readers haven't seen that little storage for a while, but most people are very ignorant computer wise, so it makes sense that the demand isn't there for an Ipod with a bigger harddrive then someones personal computer.

[Guruboy @ Aug 14th 2006 4:58PM]

That iPod design there is really cool. It looks like a touch screen that takes up the entire side. It would be cool if the click wheel just popped up when you tapped the screen, and went completely away when you left it.

[David Lazarus @ Aug 14th 2006 5:19PM]

On the comment about ITMS selling in lossless format that would mean I would need an iPod with 1.4Tb to get all mine on, and 120 Gb would be great but since I use 192KBit I passed that milestone some months ago. I wonder if my iTunes collection will continue to exceed the iPod capacity?

[CcntMnky @ Aug 14th 2006 5:27PM]

Did bob just criticize Seagate for something from 1989? Yeah, I'm sure it's the same people in charge, it's only been 17 years and 2 corporate mergers since then.

[astutefool @ Aug 14th 2006 5:51PM]

Archos have been releasing high capacity (higher than the current top-capacity iPod) PMPs for quite some time but they have been limited in their success. I don't think most iPod users are persuaded, and would rather wait for Apple to release their PMP.

[Guruboy @ Aug 14th 2006 7:14PM]

David, we're all very sorry that the MP3 player out there with one of the highest HDD capacities can't hold your giant library. Do you have the year to set aside for yourself to listen to your entire library?

Most people lie about their music collections anyways. 120 Gb is plenty.

[Sly @ Aug 14th 2006 9:30PM]

This doesn't surprise me. Seagate could do it, too.

[Sly @ Aug 14th 2006 9:32PM]

and @ bob,

how can you say that seagate has driven it's computer business into the ground? They share a pretty damn good size of the market.

[Nightwing @ Aug 14th 2006 10:39PM]

If you compress the video to the screen size 30GB is a decent size vs power tradeoff.

PS: Who PS a pic of an Cowon A2 to look like a iPod?

[Scott @ Aug 15th 2006 3:45AM]

i've been waiting, and if they came out with a 120GB, I would get it...i have 360GB and i've already filled it up =/...i could use the extra storage..

[Galley @ Aug 15th 2006 9:48AM]

I'd plunk down $400 for a 120 gigger in a heartbeat, but only if iTunes supported transcoding lossless files "on the fly".

[tiuk @ Aug 15th 2006 10:32AM]

On my 60 GB iPod I have something like 6 GB of music, and probably about 10 GB of movies. I'd still be all for a higher capacity model, though, since it makes a great external hdd.

[kaybee @ Aug 15th 2006 11:06AM]

I agree. I have been waiting for ipods to catch up to the HD capacity curve and offer something that will hold most of my music library. 120gb @ $400 might be the price point that inspires me to finally buy an ipod.

[Carl Lumma @ Nov 2nd 2006 12:08PM]

Capped at 60? There's an 80G iPod. -C.

[Carl Lumma @ Nov 2nd 2006 12:10PM]

Sorry, didn't see the date on this thread. -C.