APPLE plans to buy as much as 40 per cent of Samsung’s flash memory output for its new flash-based iPod Mini MP3 player.

Apple is expected to introduce a 4GB version of the iPod Mini that uses NAND flash memory instead of a hard disk drive in time for the Christmas season.
“To support production of its flash memory-based iPods, Apple has booked as much as 40 per cent of the NAND output of Samsung for the second half of 2005, according to our industry sources,” iSuppli analyst Nam Hyung Kim said.

“We’re not sure now many of the new iPods Apple can sell this holiday season, but 40 per cent would be the maximum in terms of their demand,” he said.

South Korea’s Samsung is the world’s largest producer of NAND flash memory, used in hot-selling MP3 music players, digital cameras and high-end mobile phones, commanding a 55 per cent share of the market.

Apple shipped 6.2 million iPods – about 1 million more than Wall Street’s expectations – in the fiscal third quarter ended June 25, as its net profit jumped five-fold.

A Samsung spokeswoman declined to comment, citing customer confidentiality.

Apple already buys flash memory chips for its iPod Shuffle player from Samsung.

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