“With those conspicuous white earbuds and that gleaming white case, the iPod is etched into our consciousness as an alabaster icon. Over the past year though, there’s been a quiet, seismic shift: Black rules,” Jon Fortt blogs for Business 2.0.
Fortt reports, “According to U.S. retail guru Steve Baker at NPD Group, Apple Computer’s trendsetting music player is seriously into that moody, urban look. Take the slim, flash-based nano, Apple’s most popular model. Last holiday season, when the color choices were white and black, black outsold white 4:3. In the larger, pricier video iPods, which also came in white and black, the two colors were just about even. ‘Black has always been the bestseller,’ Baker said.”
“But could it be that something deeper is afoot here? I couldn’t help noticing that when Apple updated the nano line last month in San Francisco, the cheapest model was silver, the colors were in the mid range, and the priciest model was black,” Fortt reports. “Steve Jobs and the crew at Apple seem to have created a design language where black means premium. Are people buying it?”
Fortt reports, “To find out, Baker was nice enough to crunch another batch of retail data, this time on the MacBook laptops, which also come in white and black. His finding: In June, July and August, white MacBooks outsold black ones almost 2:1. But wait – the black ones were also more expensive, by about $200.”
“‘Obviously, given their thought process, they believed that black deserved a premium. The surprising thing is that it sells that well, given that it’s $200 more.’ Baker said he would have expected, given the price difference, that white would have outsold black by more like 4:1. ‘It’s a lot to pay in a business where we haven’t paid extra for color before. That says to me it’s really successful,'” Fortt reports.
Fortt reports, “These days, someone who flashes a black iPod isn’t just saying, ‘I got a new iPod’ – they’re saying, ‘I got the best new iPod.’ And yep, people are paying to make that statement.”
Full article here.
Please complete the following sentence: “Someone who flashes a brown Zune isn’t just saying, ‘I got a new MP3 player’ – they’re saying…”
… PEICE OF SHIT!
‘I got a new MP3 player’ and it’s poop brown.
I’ve had my 5G 60Gb iPod video since Oct 2005 and the screen is in
PERFECT condition — not a single scratch! Of course, I bought a screen protector — the best $14 I spent! If you bought a 5G iPod video too and choose not to buy any protection, then you have no oneelse to blame…noob.
Everyone knows you can’t wear a white MP3 player after Labor Day.
If Apple had given you something extra for that $200, the black would have outsold the white by a wide margin. Currently the black iBook only says, “I paid $200 extra for the color!”
That doesn’t make people look smart.
That was a mistake on Apple’s part.
“That was a mistake on Apple’s part.”
Obviously not.
MW: black….amazing!!
I like the Black iPod. Though I bought white.
But I think the Black Macbook just looks like one of the “old” laptops. They all used to be black in the old days.
I bought a Black Macbook — and here’s why.
I take alot of photos, and I watch alot of movies on my Macbook.
I use my Macbook nearly 24/7 — as a result I don’t want my Macbook to stand out, and with the white, I am constantly reminded that I am looking at my laptop…it’s a personal preference with regards to how I use it.
There saying….
IT’S DOO DOO BABY!
Ha ha.
Seriously, brown is an earth tone. It’s calming, it’s natural, like natural leather, it’s real. It’s not attention getting. It’s ok if it’s mediocre. It says, “I’m middle of the road, I’m nothing, I’m just average, I’m OK.” I definitely think it will appeal to the M$ zombies. I’m serious.
It’s a different market group they are targeting.
I’m not buying a 8gb nano until they make it available in blue or silver. I hate black. The only thing i hate worse than black is having my color choices restricted by some dumb ass designer who has to tell me what color is “in”. I don’t give a shit what is “in”. I just want a blue 8GB nano. I don’t care what others think.
sorry, but this is a sore subject and one of the worst mistakes apple could make. dumbasses.
Never pay premium for colours????
What about metalic paint on cars? Usually about the price of a macbook pro
“Seriously, brown is an earth tone. It’s calming, it’s natural . . . “
You forgot the gentle hum of the sphincter relaxing.
Mediocre?
What about meaty ochre?
Well, i for one still like the white apple better. black looks cool and all, but ONLY if it’s shiny, like on the ipods. the dull black of the macbook keyboard/trackpad area makes it look like a thinkpad. ew.
white just seems ‘cleaner’ and more sophisticated, but i understand apple trying to change things up. you cant keep the same thing going for too long or people will lose interest. 4 years from now they will be pushing white ipods again (or silver, wouldnt that be cool?)