In a China Daily article, news comes of Toshiba's intent to supply Apple Computer with flash memory chips "early next year." This news fuels speculation of Apple releasing a previously rumored flash memory-based version of the iPod at MWSF in January.
Toshiba already supplies Apple with 1.8-inch hard drives for use in larger iPods models such as the 40-gigabyte version that can store 10,000 songs. Hitachi Ltd supplies 1-inch drives for Apple's iPod mini, which stores about a 1,000 songs.