The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required) is reporting that Apple will introduce a new, low-cost iPod later today. However, the price the publication expects — US$200 — is “more than the $100 figure that has circulated on Apple rumor Web sites in recent weeks,” but “it’s still a sharp enough markdown that Apple hopes will attract a much larger audience of music and gadget lovers.” A $200 iPod would likely offer profit margins in the “single-digits or low double-digits” compared with profit margins ranging from 20 percent to 45 percent for its higher-end models, says Charlie Wolf, an analyst at brokerage firm Needham & Co.
