Tech | December 04, 2008 | 33 comments

iPod frenzy over?

source: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2008/tc2008122_679456.htm?chan=rss_topStor...

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Strange as it may sound, Apple may have an iPod problem. The iconic music player cemented the company's reputation for innovation and fueled its financial success in recent years. But those days appear to be over. Legions of iPod owners see little reason to upgrade, especially with the rocky economy. As a result, some analysts believe this will be the first quarter since the iPod was introduced in 2001 that sales will decline from the year-earlier quarter. "The reality is there's a limited group of people who want an iPod or any other portable media player," says analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray (PJC). "So the question becomes, what does Apple do about it?"

The iPod has been a powerful growth engine, helping to boost Apple's sales from $5 billion in 2001 to $32 billion in the fiscal year ended on Sept. 30. Growth for the music player franchise averaged more than 200% in 2006 and 2007, before falling to 6% in fiscal 2008. Munster expects the number of iPods sold to tumble 12% next year, to about 48 million units.

Apple's other businesses are healthy, with its iPhones and Macintosh computers selling briskly. But the decline of the iPod franchise means those other businesses will need to make up the difference as music player sales slide. That may prove particularly challenging as consumers cut back on their spending in the face of the recession. Wall Street has high expectations for the company, with analysts forecasting revenues will rise 15% next year, to $37 billion.
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33 comments // iPod frenzy over?

  • honusurf
    • honusurf  
    • This comment was removed by its owner.
  • ipodrulz
    • 0
      ipodrulz  
    • honusurf:

      I think they should just keep the iPod touch. I love the other line-ups, but the Click-Wheel is dead. The touch would serve people who don't want to pay a monthly fee.

    • 3 years ago
  • ipodrulz
    • 0
      ipodrulz  

    • This may sound weird. But I'm pretty sure Apple wants the iPod to die. Steve Jobs is known for moving forward not dwelling on obsolete products [ahem... Windows?]. My guess is the click wheel is dead, the brand iPod and Apple will continue, it's obvious that the next line up of iPods would be the Touch and the iPhone.

      In two years there'll be 64GB iPod Touch's for those who don't want an iPhone.

      ps. Everyone who's honestly complaining about the prices. Go out and get a job or an alternative China knockoff. You never hear people complaining about the price of a Lamborghini! You pay for an amazing product.

    • 3 years ago
  • ieatwithaknife
    • 0
      ieatwithaknife  
    • ipodrulz:

      Yo, I have a job. But I also have to pay bills so that is why I can't afford an over-priced piece of plastic. So there take your i pod and lamborghini and shove it. Welcome to the real world we don't all have extra cash just floating around in our pockets.

    • 3 years ago
  • ipodrulz
    • 0
      ipodrulz  
    • ipodrulz:

      At least you understand. Since I DO have the extra cash I will go and buy my iPod(s) and Lamborghini(s). If you don't have the money, logically you won't buy it.

      BTW. The iPods are aluminium...(but I'm guessing you don't know that)

    • 3 years ago
  • ieatwithaknife
  • ieatwithaknife
    • 0
      ieatwithaknife  

    • How about lowering the price really low so it is really afforable ...Not that I want a Ipod, just so zune will lower their prices also and I can get one. Heh.

    • 3 years ago
  • diode
    • 0
      diode  

    • i've boycotted apple for a decade, its not that i don't like its products, there are just better ones out there, and, the company is terrible. i hope the hype is finally over and the isheep can move on to something else

    • 3 years ago
  • frimer
    • 0
      frimer  
    • Image

    • iPod touch shortages deepening to include all iPods?

      I dont know where your sources are basing them selfs...but here are the REAL FACTS!

      iPods are becoming increasingly difficult to find in the wake of last week's Black Friday sales, says Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu. Immediately following the sales, the only vendor to report any shortages was Amazon, which lengthened its lead times to 11 days for the 8GB iPod touch, and three to five weeks for the 16GB player. The company's situation has since been made even worse however, with 8GB lead times matching those of the 16GB model, making it virtually impossible to buy an 8GB player in time for Christmas.

      Shortages are further said to be expanding, going beyond the Touch and Amazon to include small-scale depletions of Touches, Nanos and Shuffles at outlets like Best Buy, Crutchfield, Target and Walmart. Wu contends that the sell-outs are unexpected in light of the ongoing recession, but may be attributable to a reasonable average selling price and matching public interest. Kaufman is holding to a prediction of 21 million in iPod shipments for the December quarter, which would be a rise of 90 percent over the September quarter, but a drop of 5 percent from the December 2007 quarter.

      Sorry but your post does not compute!

    • 3 years ago
  • realfran
    • 0
      realfran  

    • im happy with mi ipod, i dont see any reason to upgrade at the moment...but, for a lower price, i could feel encorage to do it

    • 3 years ago
  • blood77
  • Lizett_4
  • johnnyporcristo
    • 0
      johnnyporcristo  

    • yeah, so the apple i phone was rated by consumer daily to be the most grosly overpriced peice of electronic equiptment ever sold on the market, followed directly by the Ipod portable mP3 player...

      i think apple could stand to lower the bar a little bit for prices...

    • 3 years ago
  • Stevox
  • MoKraak
    • 0
      MoKraak  

    • The "frenzy" may be over but my iPod touch remains the best piece of tech I have ever owned (and I am an unabashed early adopter who has been burned many times). IMHO, it is still head and shoulders above any other alternative device on the market!

      Let me tell you the story about the guy at the Apple store who handed me a spanking new touch with no receipt or questions asked after I mistakenly toasted it with a old Fire Wire sync cable that I had laying around. Try that with ANY other piece of tech!

    • 3 years ago
  • metalcookiesxy70
  • TakeBack8
    • 0
      TakeBack8  

    • the ipod and apple are here to stay, they are becoming a super power in tech. they dont need to lower the prices because windows and other companys are so far behide what apple and itunes are doing.

    • 3 years ago
  • arcticspirit
  • ohh_Donna
  • 2muchinfo
  • pinkerbelle
    • 0
      pinkerbelle  

    • It's about time! I can't imagine anyone needing any more ipods! I've heard of some people owning more than 2 at a time...which is crazy...why do you need more than one!? I think it's safe to say that almost everyone in the Western World has an ipod
      And it is about time Apple lowered their prices!

    • 3 years ago
  • honusurf
  • mikeyletchero
    • 0
      mikeyletchero  

    • iPods aren't going anywhere. What are we gonna get, a Zune? C'mon now! The demand may have dropped, but it was so great that it had no chance of increasing. Regardless of what their sales are, I'm sure they're significantly better those of competing MP3 players.

    • 3 years ago
  • samonster34
  • justright
  • dougiestardust
  • AndreaKnoll
  • Lucideyes
  • AeronPrometheus
    • 0
      AeronPrometheus  
    • AndreaKnoll:

      Were you not aware that every single year for the past five years every iPod model has fallen in price or increased in capacity and features or both?

      It's so easy to pull the money card when talking about Apple. But if one actually does research their prices for iPod are hard for competitors to match, much less beat.

    • 3 years ago
  • marpunk
    • 0
      marpunk  

    • I'm still happy with my ipod, it hasn't been stolen and I can always delete my old songs and archive them on another hard-drive if I ever feel the urge to listen to those 300 songs again, it is easy to shift the songs in and out. Theft of ipods though, if Apple hired thieves to steal ipods, my friends, my father, my brother and I have all had our ipods go missing. For the reason alone of theft have I ever had reason to replace my ipod. It was worth it, the newer one is much better and I have the power of the iPod once more.

    • 3 years ago
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