Filed under: Hardware, iPod Family, Hacks
Apple trying to keep iPod nano chip manufacturers a secret?
I should have noted this when we found iLounge's 2G iPod nano dissection gallery, but it seems that Apple has (strangely) opted to take a step towards keeping their new iPod chip manufacturer's identity under wraps (strange because we already knew Samsung won PortalPlayer's old contract). As iLounge notes about their gallery, you can see three chips stamped with Apple's logo, and absolutely none from PortalPlayer (which we were expecting). It is believed that Wolfson and Philips are the other two namelessly Apple-branded chips, though I have to admit I'm a bit perplexed as to why Apple went to all this trouble in the first place. I mean, their attention to detail is admirable, and their logo is cool and all - but how many nano owners do they expect will ever check under the hood?
Gary Johnson, president and CEO of PortalPlayer, 
Well, that
didn't take long. Just seven days after Apple announced that they 
Portal
Player, the long time supplier of media chips for the iPod, has been told that Apple will be going with another vendor
for mid and high end, flash-based players (the shuffle and nano, presumably). This is bad news for Portal Player, as
the iPod has accounted for 90% of their revenue, 
Amphetameme.org 
Far be it for us
to perpetuate completely unfounded and baseless Apple rumors, but here we go. Chip manufacturer Portal Player, the
company that makes the audio chips for our beloved iPods, has announced their intentions to add 
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
