“The iPod… has become the ‘Walkman of the 21st century.’ It dominates its market in a way that no Apple product has done in a generation, raising the possibility that the company is becoming more than just a purveyor of computers with high design and low market share. If Apple continues to ride the wave of digital consumer electronics products, it may become the Sony of the 21st century,” Saul Hansell writes for The New York Times.
“For that to happen, however, Mr. Jobs must do what he failed to do last time: prevail over his old nemesis, Bill Gates, who sees entertainment as Microsoft’s next great frontier. Microsoft is working hard to make sure that the iPod is less like the Walkman and more like the Betamax, Sony’s videocassette format that was defeated in the marketplace by VHS,” Hansell writes.
“A few days after Apple’s U2 extravaganza, Mr. Gates, Microsoft’s chairman, paced around his office overlooking the rolling hills of suburban Seattle and recalled another advertisement that Apple made 25 years ago. ‘When I.B.M. came out with their PC, Apple ran an ad saying, ‘Welcome,” said Mr. Gates. ‘They haven’t yet run the ad welcoming us into the music business. Apple should,’ he added,” Hansell writes.”
“Apple’s market share has actually increased over the last year, despite increasing competition. ‘We offer customers choice,’ [Apple CEO Steve Jobs] said during a news conference after the U2 event, answering a question about Microsoft’s strategy. ‘They don’t like the choices our customers are making.’ Indeed, in the third quarter, some two million iPods were sold – more than all of its competitors combined, and more than double the pace of the second quarter. Market analysts and even rivals expect that Apple will sell more of them this Christmas season and continue to dominate the market into next year,” Hansell writes.
“What happens next Christmas and beyond, however, is a matter of considerable debate. Microsoft fans say that other music players will begin to match Apple’s features and styling, and with lower prices. They suggest that consumers, meanwhile, will want to buy music from stores other than iTunes,” Hansell writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As long as iTunes offers as many or more songs at the same or better prices and works on both Macs and Windows PCs, why would consumers want to buy music anywhere else? Just because Microsoft says so? The more iPods Apple gets into the market, the fewer customers for Napster, MSN Music, etc., and the more customers iTunes Music Store gains. And if subscriptions become popular, what’s to stop Jobs from flipping the switch and adding that feature to Apple’s iTunes Music Store?