iPOD

A follow-up post about the MP3 market. Last time we talked about Sony Walkman MP3. Here comes the iPOD. I recently received two promotional e-DMs of iPOD. First one (above) is a price promotion for iPOD Shuffle. HK$370 is a really attractive price, isn't it ? The second one (below) promotes iPOD as corporate gift for clients and employees. The intention of these initiatives is obvious : milking sales out of the declining MP3 market. How many years MP3 has been around ? About 10 years if I'm not wrong. First launched in 2001, the history of the iPOD brand is even shorter than that. The chance is iPOD as a brand will diminish in the the minds of consumers with the decline of the category. It's going to be interesting to see how Steve Jobs will deal with this decline. Let's keep our eyes open.



Comments

Phoebe said…
True, MP3 history is definitely less than 10 years.

I used to think that the success of IPod is really a miracle. Before the MP3 popular, actually IPod is already existed in the market but mainly focusing in featuring it as portable harddisk, rather than a MP3 player. Surely, it is about 6-7 years ago. This product is targeting designers therefore, it is rare in Audio or PC retail channels.

After the flooding of MP3 with numerous brand such as Sony, Samsung, Creative, iRiver and more, IPod still keep silence without reactions for long. When the market is almost at the end of growing stage. IPod mini suddenly pop into the market. It totally turns MP3 market upside-down. Unbelievably, Apple could draw existing MP3 users to buy another new one MP3 - because of Apple brand and its design. Apple captures the market share rapidly and being the market leader within a short period of time. Amazing and Awesome!!!
11:40 pm
Louis Lau said…
Apple has been doing well with its technologies and designs. However, my feeling is that MP3 is in its decline stage. It's the trend and market force that even Apple will find it hard to combat against.
1:34 pm
Phoebe said…
Ture, it's now in the declining stage. Especially the launch of NDS and PSP3 portable games, it is easy to find youngsters are busy to enjoy or even indulge themselves in playing games. They don't have spare ears to enjoy music. It's hard for Apple to resist this change. Maybe it's time for Apple to innovate new products with fun and enjoyment again. Sometimes, consumer behaviours changed, all we could do is to comply with.
3:16 pm
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