Flash based iPod minis?

This morning, Appleinsider is reporting on evidence suggesting that Apple will be replacing hard drive-based iPod minis with flash-based models, possibly by October. Earlier this week, iPod chip supplier PortalPlayer announced its quarterly earnings. In his speech, PortalPlayer president and CEO Gary Johnson said that revenues for PortalPlayer's third quarter of 2005 are likely to benefit from new flash-based chip designs.  

In response to this bit of news, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu anticipates a deal between PortalPlayer and Apple that will result in a 2GB, flash-based iPod mini. Could this replace the current hard drive-based models? More after the jump.

To tell you the truth, it all sounds pretty dubious to me. Aside from the fact that it's mostly guesswork, why would Apple move to a flash-based iPod mini?
Isn't it the shuffle's role to go after the flash-based music player market? Apple typically keeps very distinct lines between products, and as such I don't see a "merging" of the hard drive players and flash players. Mr. Wu suggests that Apple would be producing a 2GB flash-based mini. Does that mean the 4GB and 6GB models would remain intact as hard drive-based devices? That's only going to confuse consumers. If the shuffle were selling poorly or not making the inroads Apple had hoped, maybe the mini could be moved over to "help out," but I even doubt that.

Perhaps you can bookmark this article now so you can say "I told you so" in October, but I just don't see this happening.

[Via Engadget]