“As a sign of changing times, Apple shares rose this morning on the news [of a $149 iPod nano 1GB unit and a new lower price, $69, for the 512MB iPod shuffle] . There was a time when lower prices used to send analysts scrambling, fearing tighter margins and price wars. These days, everyone understands what Apple is all about,” Rick Aristotle Munarriz reports for The Motley Fool.
“More iPods in place doesn’t just mean the one-time sales. Those iPods are the catalyst for growing sales of digital downloads at its iTunes stores and a higher mainstream profile for the Apple brand. That increased public visibility has helped Apple sell more of its higher-margin computing products,” Munarriz reports. “Cheaper iPods may be welcome news to you and me, but they’re not so endearing to Apple’s competitors. Companies such as Creative Technology, Sony, and iRiver will need to react accordingly now that the lower end of the market just got lower. It won’t be easy for them. They don’t have the benefit of running a popular digital download store (though Sony owns one of the major music labels) or selling Macs to justify price cuts for the sake of moving product.”
Munarriz reports, “Apple sold 14 million iPods last quarter. Nobody else even came close. Since its inception, Apple has moved more than 42 million iPods and delivered 850 million iTunes tracks. It’s quite the empire, and at $69, the iPod is now likely to penetrate even further into the mainstream. Granted, that market is less likely than the first wave of iPod adopters to pay for digital downloads or shell out four figures for their next computer, but Apple wouldn’t mind more attention from the masses. There’s strength in numbers.”
Full article here.
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Makes me wonder how long Msoft wil cling
to the fantasy “PlaysForSure” soon will bring
the profits and partners they frequently sing
are just ’round the corner and ready to swing
into action complete with “The Next Great Thing”
that will capture the market this spring.
Ahhh… finally the fat lady sings.
Kudos to Artisticulated and TenaciousDNA. Cha-ching!
To misquote Bill the Bard:
“”The playsforsure’s the thing
Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King.”
This isn’t consumer electronics it’s an arms race. There is no way anyone can compete with Apple.
Cheers,
Tim.
Wonder what the logic of bringing these low end models out is?
Just lowers the profit Apple can get off an iPod.
With Apple announcing cheap new Nanos today— I’m going to a new site called the GreatiPod Exchange to get cash back on my old iPod.
Check it out at
http://ipod.nextworth.com
Looks like a good deal!
–Sheila
No Ampar, you set the pace.
Arsticlulated: How long will MS cling to Plays for Sure?
Not much longer if Apple loses the class action monopoly law suit and is forced to open up fairplay…
…loses the class action monopoly law suit and is forced to open up fairplay…
I just don’t see that happening. It looks to me like the judge wants to see some action in this arena. I think he wants some further definition in the whole copyright in the digital age dilema. Congress ain’t doing much right now, but activist judges are not my fave either. We’ll have to see what comes.
It’s bated breath, not baited breath. bated means that you are in great suspense, but baited means something completely different. You’d think with all the newfangled equipment out nowadays, people would look in their dictionary, like the one on dashboard.