“Dell on Monday cut the price of its Dell Digital Jukebox music players in an attempt to put pressure on industry leader Apple Computer. The company cut the price on its 15-gigabyte Dell DJ to $199 from $249, and on its 20-gigabyte device to $279 from $299,” Rex Crum reports for CBS MarketWatch.
Reuters reports, “Apple has the largest part of the digital music player market, according to market research firm NPD Group, which tracks retail sales. The data does not include Dell because its products are sold only over the Internet. Apple was top ranked with 32 percent of the music players shipped in February. RCA was ranked second with 13 percent of the market. About $35.6 million worth of digital music players were sold in February.”
“One analyst said that Dell’s DJ has done well because of its price and battery life. ‘My understanding is that they’re selling pretty well they’ve taken a nice part of the market,’ said Avi Greengart, senior analyst with Jupiter Research. ‘This is not a fire sale,'” Reuters reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Desperation setting in already or a price war Apple must fight? Price seems to be Dell’s only weapon. Competing against Apple’s iPod/iTunes on innovation, quality and mindshare is out of Dell’s league.