“iPod mania is alive and well in Japan — one of the most competitive consumer-electronics markets on the planet. Despite an array of well-entrenched Japanese rivals, such as Sony and Matsushita, the iPod had cornered 51.3% of the digital-music player market as of the end of 2005, up from about 32% in 2004, according to research firm BCN. Sony was a distant second with 16.2%, while Panasonic grabbed just 8.2% of the market,” Ian Rowley reports for BusinessWeek. “Others have exited the market entirely. In November, Olympus, maker of the m:robe music player, pulled its product. D&M Holdings, owner of the Rio brand, exited the stage in August. Apple’s killer market-share grab is even more impressive when you consider that the overall Japanese market for music players shot up 50% to 4.2 million units in 2005. ‘Suffice to say, iPod has been a huge success,’ says Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities in Tokyo.”
“‘Apple has focused on developing a seamless, end-to-end experience for the consumer when it comes to portable music,’ says Jon Erensen, a senior research analyst at Gartner Dataquest. ‘Other companies, including the Japanese consumer-electronics giants, have been focused on one or two pieces of the equation.’ Sony, for example, has received plaudits for design and sound quality, but criticism for its Connect software,” Rowley reports. Apple’s “iPod absolutely rules Japan’s digital-music player market — pretty amazing when you consider that Japan is home to some of the toughest competitors imaginable in the global consumer-electronics game.”
Full article here.
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Related articles:
Apple tramples Sony in Japan: iPod grabs 60-percent share of DMP market, Sony drops under 10-percent – December 22, 2005
Japan Today: Apple iPod+iTunes exposes ‘lame-ass efforts’ of Japanese competitors – November 20, 2005
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Apple iPods to be sold at 10,981 Seven-Eleven stores in Japan starting this month – October 10, 2005
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Apple launches iTunes Music Store in Japan – August 03, 2005
iPod should spin-off an Apple division.
Yup.
About time somebody kicks the Japanese competitive butt around a bit.
The Japanese buisness culture doesn’t allow a lot of flexability to allow creativeness to flourish.
Of course neither does most of American buisness culture either.
Your a pidgen get in your hole.
Take what we give you.
Eat this, do that.
Vacation, no vacation.
You’re LATE!
Punch in, punch out.
Your pink slip, you have been terminated, security is here to escort you to the door.
Hahahaha!!
As the clock ticks down on iPod Boombox and iPod Hi-Fi, as well as strange creatures which might be iPods, but might also be remote controls for AirTunes.
Thus creating an even more joined up range of products.
And then, next year, 802.11n (Airport Ultra anyone?) for around 200 mbits/second and wireless video.
But the real news will be that Microsoft will manage to ship Vista, and it might be secure – well, more secure than Windows XP. Of course, that isn’t saying that much, but when relativism is the only straw of comfort you have…
I think it’s all those iPod sales in those 7-11 stores…
“The only reason the XBox 360 doesn’t sell well in Japan is because the Japanese don’t buy foreign products!”
Yeah, right.
MacDude . . . let us help you, m’kay? Consider this some tutoring with regard to your misguided posts.
First, it’s business, not “buisness”
Second, it’s flexibility, not “flexability”
Third, it’s pigeon, not “pidgen”
Fourth, it’s you’re a pigeon, not “your a pidgen”
And fifth, please don’t comment on “buisness” until you’re actually old enough to work.
M’kay?
re: think before you speak
LMAO!!
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And its creativity, not “creativeness”…