iPod mania 'alive and well' in Japan
updated 11:00 am EST, Fri February 24, 2006
iPod mania in Japan
iPod mania is alive and well in Japan--one of the most competitive consumer-electronics markets on the planet--thanks in part to a slick marketing campaign, according to a new report. The company continues to outsell other competitors by a wide margin--including Sony on its own home turf, according to BusinessWeek: "Despite an array of well-entrenched Japanese rivals, such as Sony and Matsushita, the iPod had cornered 51.3% of the digital-music player market as of the end of 2005, up from about 32% in 2004, according to research firm BCN. Sony was a distant second with 16.2%, while Panasonic grabbed just 8.2% of the market." The success has been in part due to Apple's marketing campaign, which was selected by the Nikkei Marketing Journal as the best of 2005; however, the mobile phone threat looms: "A bigger threat is the growing sophistication of mobile phone-based music in Japan. Cell phones are frequently discussed as potential iPod killers, and Japan's carriers are pushing the hardest to make that a reality."
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2003
Why?
I know the Japanese are gadget-hungry, but why would you want to replace your iPod with a cellphone hybrid? Besides the fact that you add an entirely new level of complexity, I would hope that I'd use my iPod longer than I have my current cell phone. I'd hate to know I couldn't change providers without losing my music or having to deal with a different player and all those headaches.
Also, my phone cost $250. It has an MP3 player, but only works off of TransFlash cards. How much would a cell phone with a 30GB hard drive cost? How big would it be? If we start looking at flash memory, we get even more expensive. I just don't understand why people would want to combine two completely unrelated pieces of technology like this. I have, like, six pockets, I can hold an iPod and a cell phone at the same time.