“Apple Computer Inc. shares dropped Tuesday on concern a relaunch of Sony Corp.’s famed Walkman line and increased competition from Napster Inc. might take a bite out of its dominance of online music and portable players… it appears Apple for the first time might become bruised by some serious competition from both Sony and a host of online music providers led by Napster. Shares of Apple have dropped 8.5 percent since the announcement of the stock split on Feb. 11, and have tumbled some 6 percent this week alone,” AP Online reports via COMTEX.
“Sony hopes to regain some of its luster in an iPod-dominated market by expanding its Walkman line of digital music players. The new line will store files using flash memory, which is more lightweight and compact compared to the hard drive used by most MP3 players, including the traditional iPod,” AP reports. “The Sony players will retail for as low as $130 – a bit more expensive than the new iPod Shuffle, but considered to be a better buy because of a longer battery life and more features.”
“Meanwhile, on the content side, rival Napster recently boosted its sales outlook based on growing demand of its new “Napster To Go” subscription service. The Los Angeles-based company – which expects revenue of about $15 million for its fiscal fourth quarter – said consumers are flocking to its newly launched service that allows unlimited downloads for a flat fee… Shares of Apple fell $1.88, or 4.4 percent, to $40.87 in afternoon trade,” AP reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Buying opportunity knocks?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Sony launches Apple iPod shuffle ‘killer’ – March 08, 2005
Should Apple add subscription service to iTunes? – March 07, 2005
Apple shares slip 5 percent after Napster boosts revenue outlook; Napster shares rise 8 percent – March 03, 2005