10 Years and 320M Units Later, the iPod is Slowing Down
Ten years ago, Steve Jobs pulled a little white box out of his pocket and promised that it would revolutionize the music world.
We were not so convinced back then that this little MP3 player would sell, but Apple managed to ship more than 320 million so far.
Back on October 23, 2001, we were expecting something huge from Apple when we watched Steve Jobs discuss the digital media world in Apple's auditorium in Cupertino, which recently was also used to unveil the iPhone 4S. A 5 GB, HDD-based music player was hardly revolutionary and I was not the only one who felt that the device had no future with an MSRP of $399. Apple gave every person in the audience a beta-release iPod, with 25 free CDs to match most popular music tastes and transferred all songs via Firewire interface within a minute or so to the player.
Back at home - the iPod software was pretty buggy - the iPod failed to impress me, but I felt that Apple had invented something special. It was the first MP3 player I was willing to actually display in public and use with my regular stereo equipment in my living room. Ten years later, Apple has sold an estimated 320 million iPods with generated more than $60 billion in revenue. Since its original introduction in 2011, Apple launched 22 different models of iPods and the original version has survived in the form of the sixth- generation iPod Classic which is offered in a 160 GB version for $249. The current iPod line starts from $49 with the 2 GB Shuffle and ends with the 64 GB iPod touch for $399.
Current shipments are slowing down significantly as sales are shifting toward iPhones. Apple said that it sold 6.6 million iPods in Q3, down from 9.1 million one year ago. However, Apple claims that it still sells more than half of the world's MP3 players and still has 70 percent market share in the U.S. While Apple does not break out iPod model shipments from the total number, the high-end iPod touch is now the key model that secures profit margins for the iPod line and is aligned with Apple's iOS strategy. The company said in September that it has sold more than 250 million iOS devices (iPod touch, iPhone, iPad).
Over the years, the iPod has survived several high-profile lawsuits as well as Microsoft's Zune MP3 player, which was announced in 2006. Back then, Microsoft said that it was in the MP3 player game for the "long haul" and predicted that it could beat the iPod sometime in the future. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it will stop selling Zune players.
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Maybe people would buy more media players if they would have kept increasing cappacity... There were a couple players that hit 160 GB, and then, poof, went down to 120 GB, and and then they dropped to 32/64 GB flash players... And not that many of those either...
There IS a market for a large capacity personal media player...
Someone should arise to fill this niche, should the major players abandon the market...
(Heh, I loved the 3rd gen 40 GB iPod... Served my needs. It got stolen. My brother LOVED his 30 GB 5th gen... Served his needs. It got dropped in the snow and died. My buddy LOVED his 120 GB Zune, until he lost it... The only thing stopping us from replacing these devices was the cost involved, and now, the lack of available new devices.)
Not matter if you're an Apple Fanboy or not, you've probably had at least one iPod in the past 10 years, or used a buddy's. It's impressive and revolutionary. I am very interested in finding out what's next on the portable front...
now if MS would bring back Zune HD back...
It's really just semantics. The iPhone is an iPod with a phone. The iPod has evolved and is doing just fine.
Well, aboot time! Much hype for an mp3 player with an oversized HDD.
Not matter if you're an Apple Fanboy or not, you've probably had at least one iPod in the past 10 years, or used a buddy's. It's impressive and revolutionary. I am very interested in finding out what's next on the portable front...
Nope, not impressive and I prefer my iRiver e10 or a smartphone (when I had one) hands down... there's NOTHING new about the iPod that the normal mp3 players did not have, and now that every phone can play music, the device ought to be phased out.
and now that every phone can play music, the device ought to be phased out.
If only they could make a phone battery that would withstand a work-day's worth of MP3 use and phone calls.
10 years to slow down....
Funny the iPod never had a chance to start with me.
Creative Zen ftw until i dropped it a month ago,also have an ipod touch 3g but almost never used it,the sound is so bad ,i prefer plain old cd,or a memorex 8gb ,sound quality is pretty good.
ipod have great design but the sound quality is so lame.
Shouldn't it be 2001??
"Since its original introduction in 2011,..." wasn't it launched in 2001?
(i never liked apple, still don't) imo ipod touch may be the highest selling non-phone handheld gaming device. if ipod touch makes up 1% of that 250 mil., that's 2.5 mil. i think. i wonder how many psps, nds sold....
if apple splits the speaker on both side of the display, may be add 4 buttons or 6, use the corners of the screen like analog sticks, ipod will make a decent gaming device(overpriced as usual) and compete with n3ds and psvita. ;P
Nope, not impressive and I prefer my iRiver e10 or a smartphone (when I had one) hands down... there's NOTHING new about the iPod that the normal mp3 players did not have, and now that every phone can play music, the device ought to be phased out.
Not so fast dude. I am quite happy with my net10 pay-as-you-go phone but it does not serve my musical needs. That's where an iPod Touch comes in plus, it is so much more than just an mp3 player.
[citation]Since its original introduction in 2011, Apple launched 22 different models of iPods and the original version has survived in the form of the sixth- generation iPod Classic[/citation]
Wait what?? i've been living under a rock?? its 2001
now if MS would bring back Zune HD back...
Zune HD, while a VERY nice device (the only legit device with HD radio), still suffered from some of the same problems that prevented me from getting a new iPod when mine got stolen:
Not enough on-board memory. No option for expansion memory. No user replaceable battery. Not enough options (or apps) for media functionality (radio DVR, for example, proper voice recording). I didn't want WiFi if it didn't easily allow me to sync my media, and the web browser, while cute, wasn't really important to me. They should have focused more on media compatibility, and media related features.
I was expecting a 1 TB HDD based PMP by now, and 128GB flash PMPs. Instead, I have been effectively de-supported...
I am sad.
Had one few years ago, had the HDD fail a couple times, then the OS on it failed forcing a restore each time. Eventually decided to make my own with a solid-state drive and some parts from eBay, replaced battery too, never paid Apple for another one again. A little labor war involved, but it runs like a charm. If there were some drag-and-drop mp3 players that would not need any fancy software and be serviceable like that, i would replace it though. I can't stand iTunes, that is the worst piece of software ever written.
@jacobdrj The storage space probably isn't expanding because most people don't have music collections larger than about 50GB, so there's much of a market for such large devices. Eventually as the price per GB goes down we certainly will see mp3s with huge storage, but not yet.
Another thing to consider is that if somebody has a music collection in the 100s of GBs it probably means that most of their music was gotten illegally, because most people simply don't have the money for it - c'mon, think about it. Lets say that 100 GB is about 20,000 songs. On iTunes, that would cost 15,000-20,000$! A mp3 device with 200+ GBs would seem to enable this kind of 'criminality'.
@jacobdrj The storage space probably isn't expanding because most people don't have music collections larger than about 50GB, so there's much of a market for such large devices. Eventually as the price per GB goes down we certainly will see mp3s with huge storage, but not yet.Another thing to consider is that if somebody has a music collection in the 100s of GBs it probably means that most of their music was gotten illegally, because most people simply don't have the money for it - c'mon, think about it. Lets say that 100 GB is about 20,000 songs. On iTunes, that would cost 15,000-20,000$! A mp3 device with 200+ GBs would seem to enable this kind of 'criminality'.
While I understand that that is the impression, I do not believe that this is the case. In fact, it is quite the opposite:
PMPs are not just for music. They are also for videos. Videos are becoming a dominant part of PMPs like Apple's iPod 5th Gen and the Zune HD. It was one of their killer features.
And for audiophiles, the reason to have a large capacity is for higher quality audio, for higher quality PMPs... FLAC takes up a lot of space, and people who use FLAC tend to be (in my experience) people who own CDs and are looking for a more convenient way to enjoy their whole collection.
I wanted to convert all of my music into FLAC from my CDs, and TBH, I have no reason to do this, as far as portable media is concerned, because there is no player on earth right now that will give me enough space to enjoy all my music at maximum quality...
I wanted to convert all of my music into FLAC from my CDs, and TBH, I have no reason to do this, as far as portable media is concerned, because there is no player on earth right now that will give me enough space to enjoy all my music at maximum quality...
With the new firmware update, the Sansa Clip+ supports up to 64GB microSD cards. One player, several cards, problem solved.
With the new firmware update, the Sansa Clip+ supports up to 64GB microSD cards. One player, several cards, problem solved.
I do have the Clip+. I was unaware of that update. Still no video, but I am glad to see the little bugger is still kicking!
About time these apple users stopped buying these iPods, now since they are starting run out of money, because of the economic downturn.
High capacity media players are basicly HDDs. They are too heavy for the avarege user, and there is still some cost related to its production.
(Spain).
Personally i had my mp3 player (LG-JM53) since the day the fisrt 30/60 GB Ipods, and only not long ago i HAD to get a new one becouse i lost my cable to conect it to the pc (the device itself works still like a charm).
I think "good expensive devices" many times make up for it in longevity. Now im using a Cowon iAudio S9, adn so far im quite impressed with it (thou id still rather use my LG as it had enought punch to run my sennheisers 380 Pro.
I dont think Apple produces the best devices at all, iits just that their default econding quality is higer than the regular mp3 song.
i normally use 320kbps or even 1411kbps for my music and it sounds quite better than ipods (and i dont have to play with that retarded itunes crap).
Btw, anyone knows where i could find a cable for my LG model?
Had a free ipod mini, yet, the sound quality sucks... and you have get itune... and that itune sucks as well, and the battery... NOT impressed with it... The only good is that it is free when I had a computer course...
It's bad, comparing to the creative mp3... The only problem is that, creative didn't use aluminium... or else they could have got bigger than apple...
my friend had one as external storage... yet it is slower than his other external...
I don't see why you would purchase one since a lot of phones have mp3 function now-a-day and besides, you can stop listening for a while..
Ah! To be sure, to be sure! The iPod is full of S**t.
This is the best news ever.
Google FTW
Not so fast dude. I am quite happy with my net10 pay-as-you-go phone but it does not serve my musical needs. That's where an iPod Touch comes in plus, it is so much more than just an mp3 player.
There are better pay-as-you-go phones in the $80-$120 range that play music just great. I just keep my mp3 on a microSD and have moved it from phone to phone.
There are other android based products that are like the iPod & you can be sure of that! That is the reason why they are not selling so many now & I'm glad of that.
I second "CPU666d1" in his or her opion & that sticks.
"Since its original introduction in 2011,..." wasn't it launched in 2001?(i never liked apple, still don't) imo ipod touch may be the highest selling non-phone handheld gaming device. if ipod touch makes up 1% of that 250 mil., that's 2.5 mil. i think. i wonder how many psps, nds sold....if apple splits the speaker on both side of the display, may be add 4 buttons or 6, use the corners of the screen like analog sticks, ipod will make a decent gaming device(overpriced as usual) and compete with n3ds and psvita. ;P
psp - 71.4 million, as of 14 September 2011
nds - 147.86 million, as of 30 June 2011
@jacobdrj The storage space probably isn't expanding because most people don't have music collections larger than about 50GB, so there's much of a market for such large devices. Eventually as the price per GB goes down we certainly will see mp3s with huge storage, but not yet.Another thing to consider is that if somebody has a music collection in the 100s of GBs it probably means that most of their music was gotten illegally, because most people simply don't have the money for it - c'mon, think about it. Lets say that 100 GB is about 20,000 songs. On iTunes, that would cost 15,000-20,000$! A mp3 device with 200+ GBs would seem to enable this kind of 'criminality'.
let me see here, when i rip a cd its the highest possible setting 320kbit for mp3, and flac if its supported. flack can be about 3-500mb a cd, mp3 can be about 70-130mb. lets go highest numbers here as a hypothetical.
i have a collection of cd's from back when they first hit cds, either given to me by friends, parents, or bought. its about 200 discs strong, and that not including the music i got off the internet and radio (legally, free or pay). now 200discs come to about 1tb on flac, and about 26gb on mp3 if my numbers are right, i can easily quadruple that with what i got online.
i would prefer flac, but will take high bitrate mp3 if i must, but nothing can hold everything of mine.
There are better pay-as-you-go phones in the $80-$120 range that play music just great. I just keep my mp3 on a microSD and have moved it from phone to phone.
i believe they mean battery life, and the fact that if that runs out you are without a phone.
man im still rocking a creative zen sound quality is still damn great i use it in my car 32gb plus a 16gb card is enough to hold most of my music. Never got an ipod because of shitty itunes but mostly because i hate apple.
@jacobdrj The storage space probably isn't expanding because most people don't have music collections larger than about 50GB, so there's much of a market for such large devices. Eventually as the price per GB goes down we certainly will see mp3s with huge storage, but not yet.Another thing to consider is that if somebody has a music collection in the 100s of GBs it probably means that most of their music was gotten illegally, because most people simply don't have the money for it - c'mon, think about it. Lets say that 100 GB is about 20,000 songs. On iTunes, that would cost 15,000-20,000$! A mp3 device with 200+ GBs would seem to enable this kind of 'criminality'.
did it ever occurred to you that some people use lossless compression for its music?
Still have my 20GB 2nd gen. If the battery still worked I'd be using it today (replaced it 3 times before just using my phone instead).