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Korean market surprised by iPod nano price

updated 08:20 am EDT, Fri September 9, 2005

iPod nano price

Korean MP3 player makers are miffed by the on the iPod nano. Apple presumably bought the flash memory chips at a 50 percent discount from Samsung, according to today's report. �I can�t tell you the discount rate, but it stands to reason that we expand the range of discount rates for a big buyer like Apple,� said Samsung Electronics executive Joo Woo-sik. "Samsung didn�t mean to do any harm to domestic MP3 manufacturers.� Spokesman Kim Dong-hwan for Competitor Reincom said, �we can hardly declare a price war with Apple. We�ll counter Apple�s challenge by releasing new concept products.�

by MacNN Staff

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ebeyer
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2004

0

09/09, 08:45am | report spam | close Reply |
Good luck..

The track record of competitors in the "concept" competition shouldn't keep Apple up at night.

apostrophe
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2005

0

09/09, 08:46am | report spam | close Reply |
New Concept Products

Ah cool! New concept products like the LuxPro Super Shuffle!! http://www.mp3newswire.net/Graphics/SuperShuffle%202.JPG

ibugv4
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2003

0

09/09, 09:09am | report spam | close Reply |
surprised?

Are they surprised that Apple is able to wheel and deal the prices better? Or the fact that they keep taking the iPod smaller and smaller? And as soon as I see a worthy iPod competitor with native Mac OS support, I'll consider it -- iPod has become too darn trendy but it's so expandable no wonder it's #1 (wow that sounded like an AOL Ad)!

koolkid1976
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2003

0

09/09, 09:47am | report spam | close Reply |
You hear that you winers?

You people who constantly declares iPods are "too expensive." It's better to say something is more than you can afford, than to imply it is overpriced by saying "too expensive."

MichaelNH
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2002

0

09/09, 09:59am | report spam | close Reply |
too expensive...

many pc users use that as a generic excuse about macs too.... they toss out ignorant things they heard from friends..... then when you watch them shop for PC's.... they go down the line looking JUST at the prices... they are just "too cheap" to get a make, even if their comments are ignorant.

zulfikarn
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2000

0

09/09, 10:20am | report spam | close Reply |
now I've heard everythin

Macs with Intel chips, a two-button mouse from Apple, and now...

Apple producing products which have no margin, and are uncompetitevly cheap,

now I can die in peace

Clive
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Jan 2001

0

09/09, 11:08am | report spam | close Reply |
Price is relative

To me, iPods look expensive, or not much use for anything (iPod Shuffle). And why is that? Well, a top of the range iPod is GBP:299.00 (in the UK, including VAT), but at the same time a Mac mini is GBP:359.00. So I can either play some music or get a whole computer for close to the same price.

Does that look expensive? Does a 4GB iPod nano look cheap or expensive at half the price of a Mac mini? Or look at it another way, does an iPod nano look cheap or expensive compared to a pretty good mid-range compact digital camera (about the same price)?

So, to me at least, iPods look expensive - and that's what they are, little geek toys for showing off, that have little real uitility. But, that doesn't mean that they aren't cheap compared to other geek toys in the market.

benhur
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2001

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09/09, 11:21am | report spam | close Reply |
concept products.

I actually like the idea/tech behind LuxPro. I just wish it wasn't made like a piece of c***.

There is always room for improvement. I look forward to the concept ideas. I am still hoping for fm/am and voice recording in an mp3 player. It shouldn't cost that much and I personally think every player should have those features.

I have two iPods but my next will have fm and voice features. iPod or not.

loudpedal
Forum Regular

Joined: Oct 1999

0

09/09, 12:38pm | report spam | close Reply |
Price is relative

Clive, I love my iPod but I'm anything but trendy. It really comes down to how much you like music. If you buy a couple of CDs worth of music per year, you probably don't need an iPod. I, however, love music and the ability to have every good song I've ever bought with me at all times and can shuffle a playlist of 300 of my favorite songs and keep it in my jacket pocket, my iPod is worth the price.

rwhen
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Joined: Sep 2005

0

09/09, 12:59pm | report spam | close Reply |
pricing from samsung

Back in the good old days (pre ipod) didn't apple invest a bunch of money in Samsung? From what I remember Apple paid $100m dollars to them. I think this got Apple access to good display technology and good memory tech. I'm betting the ipod Nano is another "fruit" of this relationship.

Clive
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Jan 2001

0

09/09, 01:50pm | report spam | close Reply |
Loving music?

Well, I think I love music too. :-)

I've got a couple of hundred CD/12" vinyl albums and plenty of instruments and recording equipment around the house. I've also got a cassette-based "walkman" and a minidisc player, and of course there's music in the car too.

But, even though I have the "tools", I mostly don't want to listen to music when I'm walking down the street or on the bus. So, an iPod just doesn't appeal as a stand-alone device. If my phone supported MP3 playing, then perhaps I'd use it, but, again, it's just not a thing that appeals to me - so I'm probably not going to upgrade my phone or buy a Rckr anyway.

So, I think, basically, an iPod is a geek toy, something to flash around - and for that it does the job. And "the ability to have every good song I've ever bought with me at all times" sounds to me about as geeky as one can possibly get. You're just in denial :-)

riverfreak
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Aug 2001

0

09/09, 04:35pm | report spam | close Reply |
Showing off?

clive wrote: -- So, to me at least, iPods look expensive - and that's what they are, little geek toys for showing off, that have little real uitility. But, that doesn't mean that they aren't cheap compared to other geek toys in the market. -- Your post reeks of sour grapes. Underpaid/underappreciated at work?

Little geek toys for showing off? Umm, maybe in like 2001. No everybody and they're dog has one. They are far, far, far beyond even trendy. One ride through the NYC subway or walking around downtown Anytown USA should convince you of that. iPods are incredible devices that do what they do very well and are very reasonably priced. Check back to early walkman prices if you don't believe me.

Makosuke
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

09/09, 04:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Loving Music?

This is a funny story; other folks--and Korean ones at that, who've made a business of undercutting the Japanese on similar products--complaining that Apple is undercutting them? Even better, the "innovate out of it" response, which is of course what Apple's best at.

The Nano is very expensive, but this pretty much proves it's cheap in comparison.

I would like to point out, though, that a 2GB Nano costs about twice what a portable CD player did during the 90s. Meaning that you can easily stuff the equivalent of 30 or so CDs in your pocket in a space probably 1/10 the size of of a CD Walkman for around twice the price of a few years ago, and you don't even have to carry the CDs. If you accept that portable music is something you enjoy, it's hardly a terrible expense.

I don't have a great deal of use for an iPod, as my daily commute is barely long enough walking to finish a single song. But that doesn't mean that's the case for everybody.

Examples: I own an older iPod for long airplane trips (believe me, having your entire music library on an 11 hour plane ride is a big step up from a handful of CDs to combat boredom, and the less you have to carry, the better).

When you're on a long road trip, having a nice broad music selecton with you is very nice--I'd always stock the car with a couple dozen CDs, and the iPod makes that easier. I can also completely replace a music server for my sound system with just an iPod in a dock--I now have access to all my CDs without having to fiddle with the boxes (or buy boxes at all, thanks to the iTMS), nor do I need to keep an entire comptuter running to do the job of a tiny 1 watt iPod.

More to the point, how about people who sit on a train for an hour a day? Music really helps that time pass more pleasantly. You may not need your entire library, but if you can, why not?

Same for joggers or other folks for whom keeping a rockin' beat in their head helps keep the pace? Or people whose job it is to drive around all day--they probably rather enjoy having some tunes to imrpove those 8 hours.

Forbodium
Forum Regular

Joined: Mar 2000

0

09/10, 12:06am | report spam | close Reply |
Thanks, Apple.

Luxpro Shuffle/Tangent isn�t the only thing out there competing with flash-based ipods. There�s loads of stuff available and some of it is pretty good. Reigncom makes the iRiver products, which are well regarded by their owners. Cowon is another producing (and supporting) premium flash players. After waiting for the flash-based iPod and then being disappointed seeing that it was the Shuffle, I bought a Cowon iAudio G3. This player has more than just a name that�s familiar to Mac users. It�s got the FM-tuner that I needed (about 50% of the time I use this for listening to NPR/PRI), mp3 encoding from either voice or line-in, uses a AA-battery (which ensures that the device will run strong forever, and that I�ll never be stuck without a power source as long as I carry a freshly-charged spare with me), and all kinds of EQ and sound enhancers.

So the Nano came too late for me and now my eyes have been opened to UMS-compliant players. I dig the Nano a lot. But mostly I�ll be reaping the benefits of a competitive market, once the highest-capacity iAudio G3 comes down in price to meet the new flash player on the block.

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Korean market surprised by iPod nano price

updated 08:20 am EDT, Fri September 9, 2005

iPod nano price

Good luck..

New Concept Products

surprised?

You hear that you winers?

too expensive...

now I've heard everythin

Price is relative

concept products.

Price is relative

pricing from samsung

Loving music?

Showing off?

Re: Loving Music?

Thanks, Apple.

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Korean market surprised by iPod nano price

updated 08:20 am EDT, Fri September 9, 2005

iPod nano price

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Good luck..

New Concept Products

surprised?

You hear that you winers?

too expensive...

now I've heard everythin

Price is relative

concept products.

Price is relative

pricing from samsung

Loving music?

Showing off?

Re: Loving Music?

Thanks, Apple.

Login Here

Register for our weekly email newsletter:

Connect tools:

Subscribe

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Follow us

on Twitter

10 Most Read

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