“It hasn’t happened since 2012, but Apple Inc. did something unusual on Wednesday: It released an updated version of its nearly-forgotten-about music-listening device, the iPod,” Jennifer Booton reports for MarketWatch.
“The new iPod Touch is the fastest iPod yet, and likely an attempt by Apple to target younger people whose parents won’t let them have a fully-functional iPhone but still want to take advantage of its expanding suite of software services, such as Apple Music. The upgrade shows Apple still sees value in a touch screen iPod,” Booton reports. “‘iOS 8 running on the Wi-Fi-equipped iPod Touch creates a kind of music platform rebirth in Apple’s eyes,’ said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.”
“The iPod is much cheaper than the iPhone, at $199, which appeals to users who want to stream music, keep track of fitness, send WiFi-enabled messages, watch videos and play videogames, but don’t need pricey data, text and call plans,” Booton reports. “Either way, this out-of-character move shows how different Cupertino’s management has become in a post-Steve Jobs era. Jobs, after all, was notoriously stubborn when it came to product decisions, and wasn’t known to have backtracked on or reversed hardware plans. ‘I always thought killing the iPod was stupid,’ Enderle said. ‘The iPod market isn’t as big as it once was, but I bet it’s larger than the Apple Watch.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple never killed the iPod (touch, nano, or shuffle). There is zero proof that Apple “backtracked on or reversed hardware plans” by creating a new, rather excellent 64-bit iPod touch.
iPod quarterly unit sales are currently less than 2.5 million units at an ASP of roughly $155. The Apple Watch market was bigger than the iPod market before it even got out of the pre-order stage.
Whatever amount you want to bet, Rob, we’ll take all of that action. Put up or shut up, moron.