As iPod turns 5, stock is up 9-fold
updated 01:40 pm EDT, Fri October 20, 2006
iPod turns 5 on Monday
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.
