Will Apple shine or lose its luster?

[IGBT]

Text

"The photo iPod was a failure, the (smaller iPod) Shuffles are going to wind up being challenged by MP3 players in phones," tech analyst Mark Stahlman said today on CNBC?s ?Squawk Box.?


But others remain bullish. Ken Smith, who helps run the Munder Internet Fund (MNNAX), told CNBC last week that the iPod's success is prompting more computer users to migrate to the Mac platform. Apple has high hopes for Tiger, the pet name for the new Mac OS X Version 10.4, with features designed to appeal to frustrated Windows users.


But the stock has shed 17% from its 52-week high on worries Apple may have trouble staying on top of the digital music business.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I think the video ipod might do a bit better than the photo one.

 

[ZobarStyl]

I can't imagine why having an iPod would make you want to buy a Mac system...you don't gain some magic amount of functionality when you use iPod on a Mac (at least nothing that couldn't be done with 3rd party programs on PC). The kind of people who would buy Macs after getting an iPod are only doing so for the shiny white casing, and I'm sorry, but Mac can keep them. Aesthetics confuses a lot of people like that...such as my little brother who said upon recieving his iPod, "I can't wait to hear how much better it sounds than CD's!" to which I replied, "Have you given any thought where all those magical mp3's come from?" [/sidetrack]

No, you can't saturate a market with the same product for multiple years in a row and not expect it to fall out. Like they said, the only additions to their lineup have been the iPod photo, which is inane at best, and the Shuffle, which seems silly even to most iPod owners I know...I have a 6 year old beat-to-crap Lyra player that has a screen, I'm not going back, thank you. Frankly, there will come a time (if it already hasn't) that most of the people who want iPod's have them, and the majority of purchases will be replacements for dead iPod's, which isn't the best business model. They better have something better up their sleeves than U2 models and 60 gig iPods that your average user cannot even fill halfway.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I think the video ipod might do a bit better than the photo one.

No one seemed to care about video playing devices from others, such as Creative and Archos I believe, using whatever Windows OS there was.
Even though Apple do seem to be able to make some headway into markets, I don't believe there's a huge market for that kind of device, especially given the cost, when you could almost get a cheap laptop instead.
You aren't going to want to walk along the street watching a video, but you might want to sit on a train watching one, where a laptop might be easier to use/have better features (bigger screen).
Battery life for a video device may also such, while battery life for Laptops is going up. IPod at 10 hours or something, a video device would rpobably be a fair bit lower.

 

[Vegito]

Ill never own a mp3 player... its not worth getting stab in ny subways over them.. lol..

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: IGBT
Text

"The photo iPod was a failure, the (smaller iPod) Shuffles are going to wind up being challenged by MP3 players in phones," tech analyst Mark Stahlman said today on CNBC?s ?Squawk Box.?


But others remain bullish. Ken Smith, who helps run the Munder Internet Fund (MNNAX), told CNBC last week that the iPod's success is prompting more computer users to migrate to the Mac platform. Apple has high hopes for Tiger, the pet name for the new Mac OS X Version 10.4, with features designed to appeal to frustrated Windows users.


But the stock has shed 17% from its 52-week high on worries Apple may have trouble staying on top of the digital music business.

Before they say that it's causing people to migrate to Mac, I wanna see some sales numbers.

BTW, people watch videos on their PSP, and (in Japan) their GBA.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: Fox5

Originally posted by: IGBT
Text

"The photo iPod was a failure, the (smaller iPod) Shuffles are going to wind up being challenged by MP3 players in phones," tech analyst Mark Stahlman said today on CNBC?s ?Squawk Box.?


But others remain bullish. Ken Smith, who helps run the Munder Internet Fund (MNNAX), told CNBC last week that the iPod's success is prompting more computer users to migrate to the Mac platform. Apple has high hopes for Tiger, the pet name for the new Mac OS X Version 10.4, with features designed to appeal to frustrated Windows users.


But the stock has shed 17% from its 52-week high on worries Apple may have trouble staying on top of the digital music business.

Before they say that it's causing people to migrate to Mac, I wanna see some sales numbers.

BTW, people watch videos on their PSP, and (in Japan) their GBA.

Yep. I think the "Expert analysts" quoted above are trying to tell people what to think.
And if the Apple Corporation really is in trouble, then no handheld gizmo is going to save them.

 

[tbooth]

While I wouldnt want to watch videos on the ipod, I would want to be able to hook it up to a TV to watch them.

 

[ElFenix]

photo players were sort of a dumb idea. who wants to look at photos on a 2 inch lcd? if i wanted to do that i'd just let someone review them on the camera.