iPod will dominate Zune, cell phones
updated 02:10 am EDT, Wed October 25, 2006
iPod will dominate Zune
Microsoft's forthcoming Zune player will not significantly impact Apple's iPod market share, according to a new report. Market research firm JupiterResearch, which released a new report this week, also concluded that mobile phone players were not a threat to Apple's iPod dominance because most customers were not interested in wireless music downloads and said that handheld media player shipments are expected rise nearly triple in the next five years. Based on survey and its own analysis of the market, research firm JupiterResearch on Tuesday said that Apple's iPod won't lose significant market share in the next 12 to 18 months even as Microsoft introduces a competing music player. "
The iPod will remain the top choice for U.S. portable media device users, who will grow from 37 million this year to 102 million in 2011," according to Jupiter stats quoted by Bloomberg. "The total number of players in use in the U.S. is expected to rise from 62 million this year to 196 million in 2011."
Apple, which has sold more than 67.6 million iPods in the last five years, has 77 percent market share, according to market researcher NPD Group. The report notes that Microsoft, whose strategy of working with partners has failed to produce a device with more than 10 percent market share, is releasing its own Zune music/media player in November; however, one JupiterResearch analyst believes that the new media player will not pose a challenge for Apple and its industry leading iPod/iTunes ecosystem.
The first version of Zune is not going to have a very big impact on the market, JupiterResearch analyst David Card told the publication. "There's nothing on the horizon that looks like a game changer."
While it has some features not found in Apple's iPod, the research firm believes that Microsoft's Zune doesn't offer a compelling solution and that the player's main feature--wireless connectivity--is not that compelling. "Zune doesn't have many features that aren't available on the iPod. The main one, a wireless connection to other Zune machines for sharing songs, isn't that compelling," Card said.
Eleven percent of 2,232 customers surveyed by JupiterResearch said that features were important to them in a portable music player; according to the survey, the top function desired by customers was a built-in FM radio, a Zune feature that's not available directly on the iPod, but can be added via an Apple's accessory.
"Still, customers don't seem to be bothered by the lack of a radio when they buy an iPod," Card said. "Microsoft should have combined its music player with a phone or game machine to really change the competitive picture," the analyst told Bloomberg.
radio please
10/25, 08:14am reply
I still think the iPod should incorporate a basic am/fm tuner in it. though i don't listen to radio much, it would be nice to drop in on NPR occasionally.
Chris Paveglio
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omg
10/25, 09:52am reply
Tell me something else I didn't already know from day one.
chulitomio
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Joined: May 2004
Two Words
10/25, 09:57am reply
Proof Read.
mexicali100
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Joined: Jul 2006
radio?
10/25, 10:02am reply
Having a radio defeats the purpose of a music player to begin with. MP3 players are an alternative to radio.
The reason i use my iPod is to bypass DJ's/commercials and listen to the songs i want to hear. Podcasts also replace radio.
Not adding sat radio is a different story. That I would like to see. I still wouldnt use it, but if I did own Sirius or XM, then it would be a graet feature to have.
eldarkus
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addendum
10/25, 11:21am reply
Having the ability to record, unrestricted, music from the integrated Satellite radio to an AAC or MP3 file on the iPod itself while you listen to it would be a key feature. Most XM receivers have artist or song watch, I want the iPod to not only pay attention and auto-switch to the channel with the song on I want, but to auto-record it like a DRV. It's entirely possible to do so, even legally with a DRM scheme that time expires or limits the play of the file to a set number of computers (of course someone will work around this -- which will benefit all mankind).
ibugv4
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Joined: Jun 2003
satellite radio ...?
10/25, 11:59am reply
Integrated satellite would be cool, but ... is that even techically feasible right now? I was looking into satellite about a year or two, but ultimately decided I don't drive far or often enough to really justify it ... my impression was that antenna and battery life made a pocket-sized portable solution difficult, as all the players required either a car hookup or a sizable home component to be plugged into.
I could be wrong on this ... or technology may advance ... but I'm not sure Apple COULD squeeze a workable sat radio into an iPod, at least for now ...
cooner
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Joined: Sep 2003
Think podcast!
10/25, 12:21pm reply
NPR and the ilk are readily transferrable to the iPod at home now. Advantage you can listen when you have time and pause or skip whenever. Think Tivo. Why tie yourself down to realtime transmissions?
yticolev
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Joined: May 2002
ibugv4
10/25, 12:30pm reply
Recording: Since the RIAA is currently in the habit of suing satellite radio mnaufacturers over players that incorporate recording capabilities, I doubt we'd be seeing anything like that from Apple in the near future.
ZinkDifferent
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Joined: Jan 2005
Re: radio
10/25, 01:16pm reply
What is it with people understanding a simple request. They write: though i don't listen to radio much, it would be nice to drop in on NPR occasionally.
There's lots of 'live' content on the radio that podcasts can't offer. You're out for a walk and realize its almost noon. Hey, how about listening to the latest news. Or getting traffic/weather updates. Or a sporting event. Maybe you just want something different then what's on your ipod. Should people find feeds for all possible things they might want to listen to at any point, in case that time occurs?
As for this comment: Having a radio defeats the purpose of a music player to begin with. MP3 players are an alternative to radio.
Let's see. You call it a music player, but you seem h*** bent to prevent people from listening to over-the-air music on it. Then its not really a music player so much as an MP3 player. And if MP3 players are an alternative to radio, why are people still even buying CDs, stereos, that kind of thing. You don't need that either, the iPod replaces it all!
Finally, what's more of a stretch? Adding a radio tuner to a music player, or adding music player functionality to a phone (the grand iphone rumors everyone's drooling over).
testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001
basic grammar & diligence
10/25, 03:20pm reply
Is it so hard for blogs to check articles for correct basic grammar. I'm really getting tired of blogs and news feeds publishing articles with so many missing pronouns, broken/run-on sentences, backward modifiers, etc.
Sentence 2 in this article for example (besides being a run-on sentence) ends with - "...shipments are expected rise nearly triple in the next five years."
"expected rise nearly triple"? Huh?
carloblackmore
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Joined: Dec 2005