“Apple’s latest batch of iPod announcements was fairly well received, save for a few corners grumbling that the event was lacking in any big news, other than an energetic albeit thin Steve Jobs on stage,” Andy Patrizio reports for InternetNews.
“The challenge for Apple is starting to become what else to do with a music player now approaching its ninth birthday. There are only so many ways to skin a cat and despite a few nifty new features like shake to shuffle, in the end, it’s just a music player,” Patrizio reports.
“‘The iPhone clearly is overshadowing the entire iPod line,’ said analyst Rob Enderle, of The Enderle Group (Enderle is a consultant for Dell, which is reported to be working on an iPod competitor),” Patrizio reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Enderle would actually be right if he added “iPod touch” along with iPhone.
Patrizio continues, “‘Apple has clearly signaled that their focus is on the iPhone and the iPod looks like obsolete technology at this point. It’s hard for people to get excited about the iPod because the best iPod is a stripped down iPhone,’ said Enderle.”
MacDailyNews Take: People who are in the market for the world’s best digital media player are definitely excited about the iPod touch and also seem to really like the new iPod nanos from what we’re hearing and reading.
Patrizio continues, “But there’s no way Apple will get 160 million unit sales from the iPhone, like it has enjoyed with the iPod, since Apple can’t control the mobile phone ecosystem like they can with the iPod, Enderle argues.”
MacDailyNews Take: iCal’ed. The mobile phone market is so much larger than the digital media player market that Enderle will eat those words. It’ll take a few years, but iPhone will sell more than 160 million units.
Patrizio’s full article, which seems to have been dictated to him by know-nothing Enderle, including a bunch of gobbledygook about iTunes needing subscriptions (because that seems to be what Enderle is pushing on the Dell dopes who hired him to “consult”), here.
“But there’s no way Apple will get 160 million unit sales from the iPhone, like it has enjoyed with the iPod, since Apple can’t control the mobile phone ecosystem like they can with the iPod, Enderle argues.”
Save that quote! We can all send Enderle email when he is proven wrong. Given the size of the phone market, and well the iPhone is selling, it won’t take long….
More gas from the gas bags
How do I become a consultant and does it pay well? I think I could be good at talking out of my a** and cut way down on my work stress.
He is a consultant of Dell, how could anyone take his opinion as something good to follow? Just look at how Dell is doing now..
This can only mean one thing – it’s time to invest in Apple. Enderle has never ever ever ever been right about anything, so he’s a great contraindicator!
You know, they are right. After all, music is thousands of years old, so we must be getting ready to stop listening to it. So who will need a music player??? Especially if they are small, convienint and last a long time.
Yep, stop the presses, tell everyone that they can stop chasing iTunes and iPod cause music is dead and so is listening to it. LOL
Just a thought.
en
Boy, Enderle is a twit…even simple facts he screws up! The iPod was introduced in October 2001…last time I checked, that means it would be turning 7, not 9…unless he plans to recycle this column in 2010.
I guess he’s pathetically trying to position the iPod as “old” technology to be supplanted by his tasty Dell offering…sheesh
My first thought upon seeing the headline – “WTF is he talking about???” Now I realize that, yet again, he doesn’t even know.
And 9th birthday??? 2001 was only seven years ago (as shown by all the commemorations tomorrow) and the iPod came out that fall.
If we could only harness the abundant natural resource that is all the gas coming out of these ‘consultants’, we could easily save the planet and end the energy crisis.
iPod has been out for about seven years; iPhone – just one. It is expected that iPhone will have sold 40 million after two years.
Even if the sales weren’t growing, iPhone would hit the same mark after about 7 years.
Now, if we strip out the first year of iPhone sales (6 million) and look only at 3G, the numbers seem even more promising: in about four years, we should exceed Mr. Enderle’s “unatainable” number.
I’m sure Mr. Enderle said this on purpose, even though he knows it ain’t true. Nobody is actually that stupid. Or not?
Patrizio needs to get some perspective and rely on other sources then just Enderle. Shows just how lazy news reporting has become. Person X wrote something on the topic assigned to me, so, let’s see how much I can quote it and little actual thought, research and little creativity I can muster.
The Zune was just refreshed also and we did not see a built in cloaking device in those either. This guy is a nut sack.
“Apple has clearly signaled that their focus is on the iPhone and the iPod looks like obsolete technology at this point”
Crikey: compared to what exactly? Compared to 99% of the competition, iPod still kicks a@@.
These morons really need to draw a distinction between the “$200 iPhone” and the “$149 iPod”. The iPod does not cost $80+/month to own for 2 years. There is no way anyone will pay $80/month just ’cause they want a “cooler iPod”. iPhone is NOT cannibilizing iPod. This is an absurd fallacy.
“The touch isn’t cheap enough to stop people from buying the cheaper iPhone”… well, no, the iPhone really costs well over $1500 over 2 years… unless consumers are utterly r-word’ed, they know better than the “analysts”.
PS:
MDN word: “comes”
ie, what Enderle does whenever he sees his name in print…
If Enderle were an ice cream flavor, he’d be Pralines & Dick.
(Apologies to Wayne’s World)
Dell is moot in the scheme of things. They have no operating system and never will. They may just as well assemble pizzas on the same production lines as beige boxes.
Apple doesn’t *need* to sell 160 million iPhones to equal the success of the iPod because, well, it makes a lot more money on each iPhone. That doesn’t mean it won’t sell at that level. With a billion or so cell phones sold every year, getting just a few percent of those will allow Apple to reach that target in less time than it took iPod.
Enderle is a tool. And his commentary is so consistently transparent in its aims, it’s a true wonder anyone gives him any kind of credibility anymore. I think it’s the fact that people still do that actually bothers me more than anything. He’s the Pete Hammond of tech criticism — utterly predictable and therefore completely pointless to listen to. (If you’re unsure what I mean, google “Pete Hammond” and “quote whore”.)
Is Dell still sending all their tech support to India?
Did Enderle consult on that great idea too?
While the Iphone and iphone touch interface are by far the most forward thinking new technology, there is still a huge demand for a industry leading product to provide superior music storage and playback for those who dont desire to use the features offered on the iphone/iphone touch. If Enderle would have consulted with anyone in-the-know he would have bought plenty of Apple stock years ago.
Enderle is right–the straight iPod is going to disappear completely in the next 18 months. Already, it seems bizarre to me to spend money on one of these devices that *doesn’t* have wifi. In 18 months, all iPods will have wifi, and will probably all be of the “touch” variety.
I really want an iPod Touch… but the new lineup wasn’t exactly a huge change from the last generation.
He’s just trolling for hits to his column and Mac users are taking the bait. What if MacDailyNews and other Mac sites stopped republishing his articles? Maybe we’d have more room for other worthwhile Mac-related articles.
@ Tyk –> What would you like to see in the next touch release that would make you pull the trigger?
Remember the patent Apple applied for (or got) for touch screen plastic displays? That is what they are waiting for. The nano will go all touch when they can get it to be as cheap as the Nano is now. I’d assume that the costs of adding a touch display and the weight and size is what is keeping it from happening. When they get the plastic thing happening, they will get rid of the wheel and make it all touch.
The one thing I think they are really missing is a Touch with a hard drive. Classic is fine and all, but a Touch with a 160gig hard drive would be rather cool.
Given the fact that most of the people (i.e. idiots) that get press coverage these days are what my mother called “troublemakers”, and want to create nothing but controversey and consternation, I think it’s time Enderle and people like him get what they deserve: nothing.
No press coverage; no attention; no nothing.
He’s worthless, and contributes nothing positive to his readers (sheep).
Most importantly, he contributes nothing of value to the industry.
Fsck him.
The radio is somewhat obsolete technology but millions are sold every year.
The secret to stellar sales is to make punters buy the next gen model time after time. How many iPod owners own not one but a drawer full of them – and a youch or phone ?