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HP to stop reselling iPod

updated 04:35 pm EDT, Fri July 29, 2005

HP to stop reselling iPod

Hewlett-Packard has portable music player, according to the Wall Street Journal. "The two companies have reportedly confirmed that H-P will immediately phase out sales of the iPod through its retail distribution partners, whom H-P notified of the changes Thursday. 'They've decided that reselling iPods doesn't fit with their company's current digital media strategy,' the Journal quoted Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton as saying."

by MacNN Staff

(25)

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MPMoriarty
Dedicated MacNNer

Joined: Oct 2003

0

07/29, 05:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Why?

I thought the iPod deal between HP and Apple was doing really well.

jwdsail
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2000

0

07/29, 05:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
Pressure from M$?

I wonder, if in the next M$ anti-trust case (yes, I do think it will happen sooner or later) we'll find memos from M$ to Dell and HP saying stop selling the iPod or else (insert threat here)...

Shrug.

My local Radio Shack just brought in a bunch of HP iPods/accessories last week, lol. I don't think this will go over very well with chains that carry HP goods. Tho I wonder if any deals will be able to be found...

nbtsf
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2004

0

07/29, 05:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
hmmm...well

I thought Radioshack was going to start selling NON-HP branded iPods??

Also wouldn't part of the reason be because of the upcoming "Intel inside" the mac machines? HP uses Intel....maybe it feels too competitive for them to stay in that relationship.....

mgpalma
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2000

0

07/29, 05:33pm | report spam | close Reply |
Ouch

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for the discussion at HP about this one. I suppose we are just going to have to wait and see what their 'digital media strategy' turns out to be.

OkieDoc
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

07/29, 05:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
Unfortunate

I'm a Mac user who bought my iPod from HP. I just had to send my iPod back in for exchange after 9 months when I got a "sad iPod" icon on the screen. Anyways, totally pleasurable interaction with HP...got to a real person at midnight after only 1 computerized prompt. From the time they asked me for the serial number to the time I hung up after they assured that they would send a shipping box with a new replacement iPod in it, was probably 5 minutes. Great service. When I compare to the only90 day telephone support from Apple, that sucks. ALSO, i think there was a stipulation in the Apple warranty that after 6 months, i would be responsible for shipping costs. Sucks.

koolkid1976
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2003

0

07/29, 05:50pm | report spam | close Reply |
It's real simple

Apple offers no price protection to HP, which means they can't reduce their prices when Apple reduces theirs without losing money. Second, Apple is moving more and more into HP distribution channels, namely Radioshack. No one will buy a more expensive HP iPod when there is a chaper Apple iPod right next to it.

Glasspusher
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2000

0

07/29, 06:11pm | report spam | close Reply |
HP's strategy

Selling the iPod didn't fit with HP's strategy of being a computer boxmaker, laying off tons of people, and not admitting that their printers are the only things they have left that have any value.

HP has a new boss, and this deal was made with the old one. I'm not surprised.

Glasspusher
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2000

0

07/29, 06:12pm | report spam | close Reply |
hp warranty

I agree with OkieDoc, HP's warranties are much better than apple's. I bought an HP 23" display (same screen as the apple) because it had a 3 year rather than apple's 1 year warranty. I may love apple, but I'm not that crazy.

mmintler
Forum Regular

Joined: Jan 2000

0

07/29, 06:16pm | report spam | close Reply |
who cares..

I never understood this relationship anyway. I know...distribution channel. This deal might have made sense if the ipod didn't have such a strong brand value. HP doesn't add value anymore. Apple can sell the ipod ANYWHERE they want now. They don't need HP to get into e.g. Radio Shacks or Target.

Watch for a flood of HP Ipods at Costco,Sams Club,etc...

OtisWild
Junior Member

Joined: Feb 2005

0

07/29, 06:22pm | report spam | close Reply |
I was wondering....

... about that big stack of HP iPods at Costco on Monday..

Were any of them ever color iPods?

iFrankie
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2002

0

07/29, 06:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
Stock Price

Is that why Apple's stock dropped -1.15 today?

mmintler
Forum Regular

Joined: Jan 2000

0

07/29, 07:19pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: costco

Yes, the chicago costco had HP color ipods a couple of months ago... recently I've only seen HP ipod minis... But I'm sure more will be on the way.

Re: the stock drop... knee jerk reaction. Investors and analysts have NEVER known how to handle Apple stock. It's a long-term investment.

chadpengar
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2001

0

07/29, 09:02pm | report spam | close Reply |
Costco

Costco has had HP iPods for months and months -- almost as soon as HP started selling them. Our local Costcos (yes, we have 3 within a 20 minute drive) all had the color one as son as any other HP retailer...

technohedz
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2000

0

07/29, 10:20pm | report spam | close Reply |
HP Products

I think people might be making too big of a deal about the reputation of HP support and their products. The last times I looked (5 local shops and HP online this week) I found their products to be competitive in price, far better in appearance than most PC's and as an owner I'll say that they have good quality with excellent support. You do get someone on the phone 24 hours a day and no matter where they are they try to please. AppleCare comes out number one, but I think HP is a close second. Their problem is they are in the same machine matrix apple was in when Steve Jobs came back. Remember the product matrix? 1 consumer model, 1 consumer portable, 1 pro model, 1 pro portable...well HP has at least 5 different base laptops under the HP brand, not to mention the Compaq ones. And all of those have a bunch of different configurations. Not only the BTO issue, but many stores by bulk orders of what they think is the best BTO. So if someone in a board meeting pointed out 'hey we have WAY too many options just in the laptop department and our channel inventory is going to start bogging down more and more' I'd guess the first thing that goes after the personnel cut is the traditional product matrix. HP needs to refine it's line and that's probably what they are concentrating on. So why cut the ipod?

As one poster mentioned no price protection..ok and? Maybe they didn't get a great deal on distribution, but they probably brought more people into their stores. OH WAIT..they don't own stores. Did anyone comparison shop HP's v Apple for their iPods? Maybe a few, but did they buy an HP computer as a result? There are a few proprietary connectors on HP machines for iPods, but that's about it. They got the publicity they needed for a brand, but what is the use in publicity when you're over-diversified and over-extended? There's some innovation I'd like to see Apple get. A media remote that hides in the cardbus slot...well I like it. I'd be happy if they sold that on the market. They obviously licensed the h*** out of card readers so now they are not just on their printers, but their laptops too. Hey! I don't even have a basic card reader on my mac w/o taking up a usb port...not a bad thing.

So maybe they're doing a dell and going to sell or rebrand their own unique player w/ 'plays anywhere, but NEVER WINS' licensed. There's a lot of places out there that still only sell Wintected songs and some of the labels (you may try to call them indy, but they sign some major acts that sometimes evade contracts and end up on itms ;) even have their own players. HP might do better pleasing the PC crowd w/ a Ministry Of Sound player, but they still lose the revenue. No. I think they're going to reorganize their product matrix first and develop audio options while doing so. They may produce their own player, they may not. So one question is...

Will every HP machine still come bundled with iTunes?

phillymjs
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2000

0

07/29, 10:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
Heh...

Looks like someone at HP finally realized how stupid it was to sell another company's product with their tagline "Invent."

LordJohnWhorfin
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2002

0

07/30, 04:18am | report spam | close Reply |
Buh-bye Fiorina

Wasn't this deal the "brainchild" (I'm using the term loosely) of Carly Fiorina, the despicable person who destroyed HP? No wonder it's no longer hot news. Meanwhile, the new leader at HP looks like he's noticed Fiorina put the company at the edge of the abyss and he's decided to make a big leap forward.

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

07/30, 08:38am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: HP Products

As one poster mentioned no price protection..ok and?

Price protection is enough. Right now, HP is stuck with a bunch of iPods that cost $100 more than what Apple is selling, because Apple decided to slash their prices on their latest rev. That's enough there to kill the deal for most companies (although you'd have to wonder about the genius who negotiated the deal without price protection - oh, wait, they were probably laid off in the latest HP cuts).

And if you weren't paying attention, HP did announce, with their layoffs, a refocusing of the company on their 'core' markets (You know the cycle of business life, right? You have a company that deals in a certain area. Then decide you can't survive without branching out into different areas. Then after a while you decide that all those branches are hindering the company in some way, so you sell off or kill most of the branches to 'focus on your core business'. Then, after a while, they'll start branching out again. All companies do it. Apple has. And AT&T is a great example.)

So the iPod doesn't fit into their new grand scheme. Who cares? No one. Few cared when they sold the thing. Oh, and don't start expecting those HP iPods to suddenly go deep discount so they can unload them. There's no reason for that. Being that the iPod is still a strong seller, it'd be stupid for HP to sell them below Apple price, since they should be able to get that price without problem.

And I seriously doubt any of this was a threat from MS. That's just plain stupid. And there won't be another Antitrust case against MS, as the last one was useless and no one's going to spend the money on another one which will have the same pointless results (esp. with the GOP in charge, as we all know MS was all about innovation and great business until the antitrust stuff stifled their steal...er...innovation). Oh, and the DOJ is still monitoring MS based on the deal they cut, so I doubt they'd start another investigation.

Sosa
Senior User

Joined: Feb 2002

0

07/30, 11:04am | report spam | close Reply |
New CEO

This was due to the change of leadership at HP and a reevaluation of goals and products. It looks like the nascent cooperation between Apple and HP is over.

eswinson
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2002

0

07/30, 12:55pm | report spam | close Reply |
good

I'm sure HP sold more iPods than Dell. But iPod is a brand and an ecosystem of its own and consumers don't really care who is selling it, HP or Apple, just as long as they can get one.

Michelle_B
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2005

0

07/31, 05:38am | report spam | close Reply |
It is about time

Myself I own an HP PDA, I could never understand the whole IPOD thing...I mean my PDA plays MP3's with a 4 gig card (okay not great) but still I can surf the net, it has wireless and bluetooth, I can play games, why are people spending so much on an mp3 player that cannot do all this stuff when you can get a PDA for almost the same price but has a lot more features, I mean being able to even check your email or take notes or even draw on something that is the same price almost as a silly IPOD.. Just my 2 cents...

ultrasource
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2005

0

07/31, 11:33am | report spam | close Reply |
it's not about time

michelle, I'm glad you like your pda but the iPod is not a pda. I understand what you mean by paying a lot for a mp3 player that only does one thing. I'm not slamming your idea but you are comparing two different devices. PDA's, by sales numbers alone, appeal to geek professionals. I've got a laptop that can run circles around any PDA, and guess what... I can take it with me wherever I go. But getting back to HP's decision to not sell the iPod. In time, no one will care or even notice. Maybe HP has a dream device in the works. The likelihood of that is slim so I would say that they're just purging Fiorina's contributions to fit their new "strategy."

effgee
Caffeinated Theme Master

Joined: Nov 1999

0

07/31, 01:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
ops

nevermind.

jpellino
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 1999

0

08/01, 01:44am | report spam | close Reply |
Apparently...

"current digital media strategy," is French for "sucking hard on the exhaust pipe of Apple's digital media strategy"

HP seems to have the R&D legacy (like Apple) and an awake + alert + oriented design team (like Apple) and the whole PC market laid out ahead of them - if they could leverage all those things they stand to do very well and make lots of money making stater-of-the-arter PCs than everyone else. They could be the Apple of the WinTel world. I'd give them credit for that, but they seem to be squandering this opportunity.

Jettison the Compaq hardware line (support only) and solidify the brand. Make PCs that are as impressive and easy to use as your camera/printer integration, sell them like you sell the printers (the Picture Book campaign as example) and make an "H-Life" software suite and out-Apple Apple. That I can forgive and maybe even applaud - but for the PC world to be touting the supremacy of the layer of fresh paint they applied to Windows and called it XP is just beneath contempt.

If Google can roll out Picasa, HP can certainly put together a suite to stand up to iLife.

bygimis
Junior Member

Joined: Sep 2000

0

08/01, 06:16am | report spam | close Reply |
HP? Invoate? LOL

"If Google can roll out Picasa, HP can certainly put together a suite to stand up to iLife."

Well considering they are hacking their R&D to bits and recently closed their advanced software research labs (sacking the staff) I'd say they are more likely to be chasing the Dell model than the Apple one.

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

08/01, 09:37am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Apparently

If Google can roll out Picasa, HP can certainly put together a suite to stand up to iLife.

Yeah, that's what HP needs to do, mimic Google, who can't decide what they want to do so they get their fingers into everything (that has worked so well for all those other companies, like HP, for instance). Plus, I hve my doubts that Google actually created it, they more likely just bought it from someone else and finished it off (hey, like they do most everything else!). At this moment, Google has a brand-name recognition that impresses the geeks who think whatever Google does is great and they can do no wrong (for example, they still slaver over Gmail like google invented email or something, when all they did was give more away free then anyone else at the time - oooh, the innovation!). Once the bloom comes off the rose, people will see that google is just another company trying to make money off of them, just like Yahoo or MS or all the others (except Apple, of course, who exist just to make their customers happy!).

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HP to stop reselling iPod

updated 04:35 pm EDT, Fri July 29, 2005

HP to stop reselling iPod

Why?

Pressure from M$?

hmmm...well

Ouch

Unfortunate

It's real simple

HP's strategy

hp warranty

who cares..

I was wondering....

Stock Price

re: costco

Costco

HP Products

Heh...

Buh-bye Fiorina

Re: HP Products

New CEO

good

It is about time

it's not about time

ops

Apparently...

HP? Invoate? LOL

Re: Apparently

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HP to stop reselling iPod

updated 04:35 pm EDT, Fri July 29, 2005

HP to stop reselling iPod

Related Articles

Recent Articles

Why?

Pressure from M$?

hmmm...well

Ouch

Unfortunate

It's real simple

HP's strategy

hp warranty

who cares..

I was wondering....

Stock Price

re: costco

Costco

HP Products

Heh...

Buh-bye Fiorina

Re: HP Products

New CEO

good

It is about time

it's not about time

ops

Apparently...

HP? Invoate? LOL

Re: Apparently

Login Here

Register for our weekly email newsletter:

Connect tools:

Subscribe

to our RSS

Follow us

on Twitter

10 Most Read

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