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June 18, 2007
My thoughts on why the iPod...
... sales so much better than it's competitors.
At this point the iPod will outsell simply because it has the broadest installed user base jukebox-wise with iTunes.
I think it's success was largely due to styling in the early days though. The iPods mini, Nano, and Shuffle have all certainly been all about style. The iPhone is no exception. These are very slick devices and very few have come close to matching the physical styling.
That's what drew customers in.
Past that, a core set of features that are easy and approachable sold it further. My mom uses an iPod. She can figure it out. I still have trouble understanding all of the capabilities of my MiniDisc player all these years later. I love it to death, but when it comes to ease of use, the iPod has it beat hands down.
Finally, when iTunes drove iPod sales, and the iPod was well embraced, the accessories started to flow like a creative river. We now have designer cases for the iPod, Bose speaker systems, factory installed charging systems in several vehicles... the 3rd-party support is certainly not lacking when it comes to the iPod.
Next, Apple backed the phenomenon that is the iPod with constant innovation. They realized that one model wasn't right for everybody, but they were still very select about how they appraoched new model lines, and what features they did and didn't add. Making a very carefully developed device with a strong feature set that people actually use.
So let's take a look at what else is out there. There are really only 2 strong alternatives. Microsoft's Zune, and Creative's Zen Vision M. Zune got styling down. It's safe to say that the Zune is even sleeker looking than the iPod. It's a little less compact but it utilizes the space better. This might have stolen the market if it were a little quicker out the gates. Microsoft stumbles with Zune in several key areas though. First off, the software had a rocky launch. Nobody is quite sure why Microsoft didn't just utilzie it's existing Windows Media Player platform for Zune. They have recently, but at first they insisted on giving the Zune it's own "Zune Music Store." The software bricked devices, crashed computers... so on... It quickly earned a bad reputuation. Microsoft also missed an opportunity to support a diverse set of file types which could have helped it compete against the iPod considering the iPod has a very limited set of compatable file types.
Last but not least, the Zune fails to account for the high-end user who ONLY purchases TV shows, movies, and music online. They put out a single device in a single size. 30gb. 30gb goes quick folks.
So Microsoft got style down with the Zune, but lacked the software, mult-format support, and size options to make it a success, we have the exact opposite story with Creative's Zen. They bombed style. This thing is chubby, with a cheap plasticy white back and a uni-touch surface that moreso tilts in the direction you push it than actually depresses. It's a poorly designed brick to be dumping that much money on. On the other hand, it's fomat support is there. It's available in 30 and 60gb sizes (the iPod is still wining the size war at 80gb, but at least the Zen makes an effort), and the Zen works with or without a multitude of softwares because you can simply drag and drop things to it.
When are we going to see the complete package from a company other than Apple? The market belongs to the iPod because no one has actually created competition yet. Whereas Apple took this potential market and ran with it, other manufacturers seem to just want a chunk of it and really don't care to put effort into product design and software to back it up.
As of Febraury of this year Apple had a 73+ marketshare. Zune was just under 3%. It's a sad sad world out there for Apple's competitors.
Posted by Decemberice at June 18, 2007 11:05 PM