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Digitimes reports that Taiwanese flash memory manufacturer Etron Technology is ramping up production considerably, based on the likelihood of big future orders from Apple for 4-6GB NAND flash-based iPods.

Apple currently equips its iPod Mini with 4 and 6GB hard drives, but falling SDRAM prices mean Apple could offer flash-based products. It also opens up considerable possibilities for 2GB iPod Shuffles, Apple's only flash-based iPod product line, which currently offers 512MB and 1GB capacities.

Digitimes suggest the roll-out of new iPods could occur in the fourth quarter of this year.

Analysis: Full-sized iPods could be offered in, say, 20/30/40/60 capacities, while Minis could be 10GB. It makes more sense for Apple to go for higher-capacity flash players, unless they can source 4GB flash drives for the Mini a lot more cheaply than the Toshiba hard drive equivalent. But Digitimes has often been too bullish in its predictions, so watch this space.