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Nissan recovering from quake, ramps up Leaf deliveries
We have some good news from the Land of the Rising Sun -- a fresh batch of Leafs are on their way to American shores. At the New York Auto show, Nissan announced that the first shipments of post earthquake-produced EVs should be in the hands of American consumers by April 27th. The company still expects to fulfill current orders by the end of summer and on May 1st will begin accepting new reservations for vehicles in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. Buyers in the southeastern US will be able to join the plug-in parade this fall, to be followed by a nationwide launch in 2012. Now that the auto manufacturing plants are getting back to business as usual following the tsunami that ravaged Japan, we can only hope the rest of the country isn't too far behind. PR after the break.
Droid more valuable than Nexus One or iPhone 3GS according to iSuppli
Ah, here we go again: another report from iSuppli breaking down the bill of materials (BOM) for one of our favorite smartphones. This time it's the Droid / Milestone under scrutiny, Motorola's beefcake slider that currently sells for $560 month-to-month on Verizon ($199 on contract). According to iSuppli's analysis, Droid brings a $187.75 bill of materials that breaks down into $179.11 worth of components and $8.64 in manufacturing costs. Naturally, the BOM does not include licensing fees, software costs, accessories, or the massive outlay this device has received in advertising support. Nevertheless, it makes for interesting apples-to-apples fodder when comparing costs with the Nexus One ($174.15 in materials only), iPhone 3GS ($178.96 materials and manufacturing), and original Palm Pre ($138 materials and manufacturing). The single most expensive component on the Droid is the 16GB removable microSD card ($35) bundled with the Droid. And after a controversial MOTO report that demonstrated a lackluster capacitive touchscreen on the Droid, it's interesting to compare the Droid's 3.7-inch TFT LCD ($17.75) and capacitive touchscreen overlay ($17.50) with that of the iPhone 3GS ($19.25 spent on a smaller 3.5-inch LCD and cheaper $16 touchscreen overlay) and Nexus One (whopping $23.50 for 3.7-inch AM-OLED display and $17.50 for the touchscreen assembly). Rounding out the top-end costs are the Droid's 5 megapixel autofocus CMOS sensor ($14.25), Qualcomm baseband processor / RF chip ($14.04), and TI application processor ($12.90).
Analyst Michael Pachter says PS3 price drop this summer
Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan is one hell starter of an analyst when he's saying MTV bought the wrong company or Gamestop is a good stock, but he can also admit when he's wrong -- like he did with Bully. Well, now Pachter adds his voice to the choir that a PS3 price drop is possible as early as this summer.Speaking with GI.biz, Pachter says, "It is possible that Sony's cost of production for the PS3 has declined to the point that the company may consider a hardware price cut some time this summer, and we may see a price cut for the PS2 before the holidays."So, now Pachter has thrown his voice into the price drop echo chamber. Estimates for a PS3 price drop range in the $100 region. It hasn't been a pretty day for Sony, so anything that could drive sales would be worth considering.[Via PS3Fanboy]
