iPod maintains hold on MP3 mindshare

Apple's iPod remains the most highly recommended MP3 player by retail stores across the US; however, the iPod nano may be cannibalizing sales of the low-end iPod shuffle, according to a Piper Jaffray survey of more than 50 non-Apple retail stores. "The bottom line from our survey is that all iPods have retained top mindshare with U.S. retailers," writes analyst Gene Munster. The firm found that Apple mind-share for high end devices ($150+) has risen by 5 percent since June 2005, with 68-percent of retailers now recommending iPods. Mindshare on the low end (less that $150) fell from 52- to 38-percent--in part due to the release of the Nano, which may be favored by more users and also in part due to a change in the firm's methodology (it used $150 as the threshold, rather than 5GB of storage).

Retailers in the sample include: Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, and Fry's Electronics.

Piper Jaffray says retailers recommend iPods for video capability, ease of use, and ecosystem of accessories. Ease of use has long been one of the iPod's strongest selling points, but video capability only recently entered the equation. The so-called "ecosystem of accessories" describes the wide variety of made-for-iPod add-ons.

Retailers who recommended against the iPod cited a lack of FM tuner on all models, and the absence of a screen on the iPod shuffle.

Outside of iPod, Creative Technology gained significant ground, moving from 12 percent of recommendations in June to 26 percent of recommendations in November. "We believe Creative's positive move is likely a result of Rio's significant decline in sales rep mindshare."

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