ipod
10/20/2006, 1:40pm, EDT
Friday, October 20th
As iPod turns 5, stock is up 9-fold
As Apple's iPod celebrates its fifth birthday Monday, CNN/Money talks about the milestone for the music player that not only reinvigorated the "other" computer maker but revolutionized the way people buy and listen to music. "When Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the first iPod on Oct. 23, 2001, he said: 'With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again.' After dominating music downloads, Apple is moving into movies now. Apple's stock has skyrocketed in the last 5 years, largely due to its dominance in the portable music player market. Indeed, the iPod and Apple's iTunes music store have transformed the music business, sparking a new way for users to legally download music - and spurring a stunning rise in Apple stock. Apple shares, which traded around $9 five years ago, have risen nearly nine-fold since then."
The article notes that iPod sales continue to grow despite more competition.
"iPod sales are still growing - shipments rose to 8.73 million in the latest quarter, up 35 percent from a year earlier- even though there's some serious competition out there now for the world's most popular digital music player," according to the publication.
Microsoft is expected to launch its much-anticipated Zune next month, in time for the holiday season and rival SanDisk has also rolled out products to battle the iPod nano, it notes.
Despite the competition, Apple continues dominates retail sales of digital music players with more than 70 percent of the market.
Filed under: iPod
, 
, 2
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
Top
subscribe to comments
for this article
Really??? The Zune is Much-anticipated by whom? I am willing to bet that Zune is not that much anticipated by the majority of people who already own an iPod. The majority of people in the space want their players for Music. The ability to view an occasional video is just a perk.
So the Zune has a bigger screen, who cares? It’s not like Apple could not crank out an iPod with a bigger screen if it wanted to. Perhaps they already have one waiting in the wings? How about wireless? Its just a battery killing gimic if you asked me.
People buy and use their iPods primarily for music. The Zune just does not offer a compelling reason for most people to switch from iPod. Gee I can switch from iPod to Zune and give my money to monopoly "M" instead of monopoly "A". Not very compelling is it? Perhaps, I will just stick with my iPod, because it does everything I want it to do and it has stylish looks that are much, much nicer than the Zune.
Time will tell, but I'm betting most consumers are going to stear clear of brand M.
As for the WiFi, people were clamoring for that to be included in the iPod. I guess once someone else takes the idea, it becomes a battery-waster. If Apple released a Wifi capable player, everyone would be "Oh wow! Talk about a great new feature! Now I can stream this to my stereo without having to mess with cables!"