iPod has released the new mp3 player. The size of it is so small, that is why they create iZoom. The function of it is to make it easier for the user to press the microscopic buttons. Each iPod flea contains one song only.

click here for more information:
http://www.layersmagazine.com/features/feature_cs2/flea.htm

Click to enlarge!

This is what the iPod looks like when you take it out from the box. The front outer plastic packaging says "Don't steal music." in several different languages. It means a caution for the iPod customer to stop them from copying music. As we all know, iPod is an mp3 player. The customer can just download mp3 songs illegally but the sentence means that Apple support the music industry. I'm not sure if other mp3 players have this kind of sentences on their product.

click to enlarge!

According to Mac News Network :


iPod sales numbers: Net sales of iPods increased $750 million, or 284% during the second quarter of 2005 compared to the same period in 2004, and increased $1.705 billion or 328% in the first half of 2005. Unit sales of iPods totaled 5.3 million during the second quarter of 2005, which represents an increase of 558% from the 807,000 units sold in the second quarter of 2004. For the first six months of 2005, iPod unit sales increased 542% to 9.9 million units sold compared to 1.5 million units sold in the prior year. Since introduction of the iPod product line in fiscal 2002, the Company has sold in excess of 15 million iPods.


iTMS, iPod accesories increase: Other music products consist of sales associated with the iTunes Music Store and iPod related services and accessories. Net sales of other music products increased 260% to $216 million in the second quarter of 2005 compared to the same period in 2004. A similar increase of 267% in net sales of other music products was experienced for the first half of 2005 compared to the first half of 2004.

Apple is not only deal with the mp3 player market but also with other market such as the handheld, mobile phones market, online music store and flash player developers.



"... Apple can win without maintaining the breadth of its lead - it now has about 70 percent of the digital music player and music download markets." (Reuters, 11 March 2005)



PalmOne as one of the world's top producer of handheld is having a new category that called mobile manager.



"Rumor has it that the new devices released in line with this strategy later this month will offer lots of built-in storage plus an assortment ofwireless connectivity options, much like Nokia's new devices that are designed to be iPod killers." (NewsFactor, 9 May 2005)



Mobile phone technology is growing up so quickly with their features. Now, there are many mobile phones available in the market have music feature which is basically same as mp3 player device.



"Apple is also trying to play a role in putting music on phones. It's developing an iPod phone with Motorola Inc. (MOT ) that the pair have started marketing to wireless operators. Motorola says it expects at least one carrier will begin selling the phone this summer. If that happens, the carrier would not build its own music store and instead send its customers to iTunes." (Yahoo business week, 25 April 2005)



"Apple Computer's (Nasdaq: AAPL - news) iPod Shuffle has expanded its share of the U.S. flash player MP3 market, growing from 43 percent in February to 58 percent in March, according to research firm NPD." (Yahoo business news, 5 May 2005)



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The best thing about Apple company is they can still survive in a big market competition. The idea of producing an mp3 player which is iPod is great, they know that people always have some connection with music. The design which are simple and elegant suit every people generation. Those make Apple dominate the mp3 player market. Another thing is the capacity of the iPod itself which is quite big. Although the advertisement always says about the capacity of the songs, actually people use it for storing other data which is as a function of the USB key. When Apple released the iPod shuffle which is more likely as a USB key instead of an mp3 player, Apple goes into the USB market. Apple grabs more customers in this market than other flash player developers.



When the mobile phones industry hit the iPod market, Apple try to make an iPod phone so they can survive on that competition. I think the mobile phones market is more danger than any other market because almost every people have mobile phone now. In my opinion, people like to have some device that has many functions. So if the mobile phones have a music feature that can play mp3 music format, this will be a tough enemy for Apple to survive.



Will Apple survive in those competitions until the next few years?

It says on the cnn.net that iPod owner suggest to keep the devices concealed and switch the earphones to cheaper-looking one. It sounds funny for me because the earphones are one of the iPod important accessories. Some people even wear it although they do not own the iPod product. Well, we can say the earphones are symbol of iPod. By just looking at it, you notice that person has an iPod. Who knows that this thing is leading to the crime problem? Same with us, it makes the thief easier to define who own it and who don't. Let's just say, the person who own iPod change his earphones to the cheap one. What is going to happen next?? I think people will talk badly about him. For example, how come that person has iPod but doesn't have the earphones? or why does he use that cheap earphones instead of the white elegant iPod earphones? and so on. I think this will become a serious issue if there is more crime happening. iPod is designed to be an elegant looking product. Is Mac going to change the design just because of the crime?? Is it going to turn down the number of iPod sales and increase another brand??

According to the Apple's fiscal year 2004 annual report :



Net sales of iPods rose $961 million or 279% during fiscal 2004 compared to 2003. Unit sales of iPods totaled 4.4 million in fiscal 2004, which represents an increase of 370% from the 939,000 iPod units sold in fiscal 2003. Strong demand for the iPods during fiscal 2004 continued to be experienced in all of the Company's operating segments and was driven by enhancements to the iPod, the introduction of the iPod mini, increased expansion of the Company's iPod distribution network, and continued success of the iTunes Music Store due largely to making it available to both Macintosh and Windows users in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany. Since inception of the iPod product line in fiscal 2002, the Company has sold approximately 5.7 million iPods.


Other music product consists of sales associated with the iTunes Music Store and iPod related services and accessories. Net sales of other music products increased $242 million or 672% during fiscal 2004 compared to 2003. The Company has experienced strong growth in sales of iPod services and accessories consistent with the increase in overall iPod unit sales for fiscal 2004. The increased sales from the iTunes Music Store, which was originally introduced in April 2003, is primarily due to making the store available for Windows in October 2003 and the introduction of the store in the U.K., France, and Germany in June 2004.

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From that fact, we can see that the music sales at iTunes Music Store grow faster than the iPod product. How can this thing happen?? Is it because iPod is an mp3 player product so they can just downloaded the songs instead of buying new cd??


This issue connects to my previous post (Apple's Strategy).
"Having AAC as another music format and iTunes Music Store are the way how Apple increases their sales of their iPod portable player. Apple more cares about their iPod sales rather than the sales of music from their iTunes Music Store because of course they make more money from iPod."


From that point, we know that the function of the iTunes Music Store is to increase the sales of the iPod product. But is it feasible that people will buy the iPod product just because they can download the music file from the store?

I found a website that show Apple's fiscal year 2004 annual report (filed December 3, 2004). I have not read all of them, but by scanning it through, I think this website can help me much to know more about iPod and its company. After I read it all, I will post the summary here...


Click here to view the website:
http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000104746904035975/a2147337z10-k.htm

This is the latest news that I got from CNN.com

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NEW YORK (AP) -- The iPod craze has spawned a crime wave in city subways.


Police told the city transportation board on Wednesday that 50 iPods have been reported stolen on the subways so far this year, compared to none during the same period last year.
Cell phone thefts have more than doubled to 165 from 82 last year.


The thefts fueled a 20 percent spike in robberies last month on the subway, officials said. Most thieves are believed to keep the devices, which can retail for $100 to $500.


"It usually has to do with young people taking them from young people," said police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.


Thieves spot people with the telltale white earphones, then snatch the devices and run out train doors. On Web sites, iPod devotees suggest keeping the devices concealed and switching to cheaper-looking earphones.


An average of nine to 10 serious crimes occur daily on the city's subway system, officials said. Kelly called that number "remarkably low" and attributed it to extra police patrols.