“First week sales of Apple’s new shockingly thin iPod nano have fallen short of expectations, with most Apple retail stores having sold only one-fourth of their initial inventory of the players, AppleInsider has learned. A couple of Apple retail stores in California, which last week received over 1400 iPod nanos, said they sold only a couple of hundred units by Saturday. This despite favorable reviews from both analysts and the media,” AppleInsider reports.
Black iPod nano units “‘are outselling the white ones by a great deal,’ Shaw Wu, an analyst for American Technology Research, wrote in a research note released to clients on Tuesday. ‘5 to 1 and in some cases as high as 8 to 1.’ Coincidentally, these sales ratios completely contrast Apple’s initial production ratios of the nano, which reports suggest were 1 black nano for every 5 to 8 white nanos,” AppleInsider reports.
Full article here.
“Mr. Wu wrote, cautioning ‘iPod nano has only started shipping since Sept. 7, and thus it may be difficult to draw a trend with only six days of data,'” The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reports.
Full article here.
[UPDATED 12:56pm ET: Added quote from Wu via Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.]
Advertisement: Apple iPod nano. 1,000 songs. Impossibly small. From $199. Free shipping.
As Apple Store affiliates, MacDailyNews and iPodDailyNews, without revealing actual figures, can report that the iPod nano is, by far, the most successful product we’ve ever featured on our websites in terms of units sold based on five days of sales (9/8-9/12). Perhaps people were/are unsure of retail availability and are buying online during the first week? To us, reports based on less than a week of data seem a bit premature and specious to determine the extent of iPod nano’s success. Everything we see from iPod nano at this extremely early date screams “grand slam” to us.
We have no way of telling whether black or white iPod nano units are selling better via our websites, but anecdotal information we’ve heard from other sources, suggests that black is easily the most popular iPod nano color.
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Apple iPod nano takes a beating and keeps on beating – September 12, 2005
Apple’s iPod nano: The ‘thin lady’ sings unwelcome iTune to competitors – September 09, 2005
Hands on with Apple iPod nano – September 09, 2005
Mossberg: Apple iPod nano ‘beautiful, incredibly thin, and exceeds Apple’s performance specs’ – September 08, 2005
Over 1,000 accessories now available for Apple iPod – September 07, 2005
Apple’s iPod nano will make competitors whimper, Motorola’s ROKR inexplicably bland – September 07, 2005
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Analyst: iPod nano ‘could be Apple’s next home run’ – September 07, 2005
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Apple’s Steve Jobs predicts ultra-thin iPod nano ‘will become the highest volume iPod in the world’ – September 07, 2005
Apple introduces iPod nano – September 07, 2005
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Apple stomps competitors in flash-based MP3 player market – September 02, 2005
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I know 4 people who are either waiting till Christmas to get one or are saving up and will buy one within a month.
But, going on what these analysts are saying, the nano will be discontinued next week due to lack of interest!
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There’s a reason why the word ANAL is in analyst.
It’s a shame they dropped all the mini colors. I think the fact that the black is outselling the white means that people are getting tired of the same white look for all their Apple products, and black is the only alternative. I think the mini colors had a large share in the mini’s success. And no, nano tubes just aren’t the same.
This past Saturday morning the Short Hills NJ Apple store was sold out of the Black 4GB. 5 nanos were sold (including my Black 2GB) within 25 minutes of store opening. And there were alot of customers looking and asking questions.
P.S. the little nano shopping bag is very cool
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The San Francisco store was sold out of 4GB both colors this weekend.
Gotta love those analyst
i want colour.
i hate being limited to gay white.
AppleInsider hasn’t stopped slamming Apple (with stuff that, of course, may or may not be accurate at all) since Apple brought the lawsuits against the rumor sites. Seems pretty transparent to me that AppleInsider is looking to extract yet another ounce of revenge here.
When I was in the Apple Store, everyone wanted to see the display nano (they only had one available for display, presumably due to tight supply), but no one could buy them because the ones they had were all reserved by people who had called ahead. When I’ve been in any third-party iPod retailer this week, there weren’t even any nanos in stock yet. So AppleInsider is basing sales data on what, again?
Lets see – a few hundred per store and there are over a hundred Apple stores – then there is CompUSA others – That is easily 250,000 or more sold in the first week – Dam that is a huge failure. I would like to sell that many of anything in a year..
MW = “rate” at this rate Apple is sure to go out of business.
I don’t buy it – one bit. I have 2 people in my office (PC Based) who bought 2 each – one for themselves, and one for their kids. Granted – they did it online.
I must say – I am waiting though – for the next gen. Nano (it’s a capacity issue)
I want a 4 gig nano but both the Tokyo Apple Stores (I am on vacation) and the Orlando Apple Store have been sold out of 4 gig nanos. If anything, I think Apple underestimated the demand for the larger 4 gig players. The stores are full of tons of 2 gig players but I saw many people turned away that wanted a 4 gig. Price point a problem? I don’t think so. I think it’s capacity and Apple’s consistant underestimation of demand for the larger versions.
Wu is an idiot. Reporting sales ‘estimates’ based on a channel check of a half dozen stores is, at best, typical of the crap he routinely comes up with.
Frankly, I think this colour thing is just a money making poll from Steve. He wants to see whether he should migrate the new Macs to black instead of the current signature white. I’m betting that he wants to go black and wants to see if it will sell.
Black vs White
“…Mike Bolt, Stanley Cup…”
w00t!!! Game on!!!! (Capitals training camp opened yesterday!!
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I love the design of the nano. Unfortunately, capacit is too low for me. The nano would have to replace my 6GB mini.
A 6GB nano would get the wallet out, hesitantly. The 6GB mini is already filled to capacity with just my favorite songs.
At 8GB (or larger), the credit card would be out and I’d be running toward the counter.
The Nanos are going to sell like wildfire. Everyone I have talked to has said that they are going to buy one — during the holidays. This is not a big buying season right now… people are tapped with back-to-school expenses, Katrina relief, and general recovery from the spending of the summer. This is a holiday item.
HOWEVER — that being said, I think it was a BIG MISTAKE FOR APPLE TO DROP THE COLORS OF THE IPOD MINI!!!! All the girls I know SHRIEKED WITH DELIGHT when they saw the full range of colors that the iPod mini came in!
Now, the iPod looks like every other computer gadget out there: black or white.
APPLE DROPPED THE BALL when they decded to lose the colors. Big mistake.
I had every intention of buying a Nano this last weekend to replace my now dead 1st gen Mini, but I was disappointed when I saw them in person. Why ?
Every single unit on display at my local Apple store was covered in surface scratches after only two days of exposure to the real world environment.
In know that the demo units are manhandled far more badly than a personal unit, but the Minis on display for months at the same store looked relatively new by comparison.
Turned off by this apparent flaw in durability, I decided to buy a 6g Silver Mini instead while I still had the chance.
Others may be doing the same?
‘i want colour’
First of all, white is ALL colors visible at once. You have color!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” /> Black, on the other hand, is the total lack of color. Rainbow colored, however, would be gay.
I had a chance to ‘fondle’ a black nano this weekend and I didn’t like the way fingerprints showed up on it. I was originally leaning towards a black nano, now I’m not so sure…
BTW, the units on display in the Apple stores are not being subjected to a ‘real world environment’. They are handled and abused far worse and more often than the ‘owner’ would treat/handle it. Most people, when trying out something at a store, don’t care too much because it’s not theirs. Sad, but true. The nano is constructed of the same materials as my 3G iPod, so I would expect it to wear in a similar way.
The nano is gonna be the gift for Christmas. I have two iPods already and have to wait to then to save up enough “new toy points”.
Annecdotally, I will ask for a black one. I already have two white ones and the black looks tre cool.
Remember, the iPod Mini’s colored face is aluminum, while the iPod and iPod nano are glossy smooth plastic. Big difference in material hardness. My 3G iPod still looks pretty good- very few (and very minor) scratches on it after over 2 years. Then again, my CDs don’t have any fingerprints on them either. Take a look at the average teenager’s CDs and you will be amazed at what you see. It’s surprising they play at all!
Scott Rose…
Colorful armbands and tubes for your girls…
http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/accessories.html
New York store repeatedly sold out of all stock all week long, with new shipments coming in daily.
MDN: “As Apple Store affiliates, MacDailyNews and iPodDailyNews, without revealing actual figures, can report that the iPod nano is, by far, the most successful product we’ve ever featured on our websites in terms of units sold based on five days of sales”
????????? Is this total b.s. or what? What did you sell – 5 and you bought 3? MDN now thinks its a site to source for sales. Okay, MDN which are the worst Apple products you affiliated? Give us your top ten with real sales numbers.
——–
If sales from REAL sources is any example Steve may have misjudged things (or people are waiting until Christmas).
Or people like the old ipod mini.
Or ipod sales are peaking….
Its too early to buy, I’ll be waiting till about christmas to get one for my dad.
g$,
“First of all, white is ALL colors visible at once. You have color! grin Black, on the other hand, is the total lack of color. Rainbow colored, however, would be gay.”
Huh? I thought white was no color (or the color of objects that reflect nearly all light of all visible wavelengths) and black was all colors. I could be wrong.
Amazon’s top-selling MP3 players
Yeah, enough of that gay white. Gimme some hetero pink or lime green. Now I’m feeling macho.