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iPod's global marketshare numbers overblown?

updated 11:30 am EDT, Thu May 27, 2004

iPod global marketshare

Business Week Online columnist Alex Salkever notes that while Apple's iPod is a "bona fide hit," its 25% global marketshare number : "Too bad their assumption is off base: The iPod's global market share may actually fall well below the 25% mark....Very little good data exists on international sales of consumer electronics -- digital-music players included. With the exception of Japan, information out of Asia is sketchy. According to one of [the MP3] chipmakers and to industry analysts, worldwide shipments of digital-music-player chips hit about 15 million last year. An April, 2004, report from investment bank CIBC on this market estimated global sales of flash and hard-drive music players at 17 million. If that's true, then the 1.5 million iPods sold in 2003 gives Apple 8% to 10% of the global market."

by MacNN Staff

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macenzo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2003

0

05/27, 11:37am | report spam | close Reply |
price

this summer is the right time to go down with iPod prices. just after the hpPod $ 199-249-299-349

Faizon318
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2004

0

05/27, 11:57am | report spam | close Reply |
LOL

ok .. so its not 25%.. who has the largest market share then ????

SomeToast
Senior User

Joined: Jan 1999

0

05/27, 12:25pm | report spam | close Reply |
That tears it

iPod doesn't have 25% market share? I'm running over mine with the car tonight.

patrickdaly
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2000

0

05/27, 12:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
WHO CARES...

all I know is when you ride the subway in New York, sure looks like Apple has 75% market share. Besides can you really compare a 99dollar flash mp3 player to an ipod? Seems to me that Apple has defined its own market space which is the real point here....

abrody
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 1999

0

05/27, 12:42pm | report spam | close Reply |
In other news

A recent PC switcher confessed to have creating so much FUD about Macs and iPods, he is now so ashamed of himself he apologized on Macnn. Let's stop publishing FUD, and start publishing facts.

greggers
Forum Regular

Joined: Jan 2001

0

05/27, 01:21pm | report spam | close Reply |
FUD

uhuh. And mp3 music players are the only electronics which play mp3's. NOT

Let's think about what else does this too:

DVD players.
Portable DVD players.
Some CD players.
Some portable CD players.
Handhelds.
Some cell-phones.
Casio's watch.

Anything else?

zzimbob
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 2003

0

05/27, 01:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
Interesting Timing

Isn't it interesting that this article comes out the same day that Micro$oft says that they're coming out with a $50 iPod killer? It's more FUD from the Windoze world because, mommy, I want my market domination in everything!

freakboy2
Dedicated MacNNer

Joined: Oct 2002

+1

05/27, 01:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
ur momma

can play mp3's and she's less than 100 bucks

mjtomlin
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 1999

0

05/27, 01:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
uuhh...

first he says... "Very little good data exists on international sales of consumer electronics"

then he reports... "a report from investment bank CIBC on this market estimated global sales of flash and hard-drive music players at 17 million"

So my question is, Which "good data" do you choose to base your numbers off of? If you can't prove Apple wrong or right, then why bother writing this stupid article? This isn't news or even investigative reporting, it's just filler, fluff. There are no facts presented, just estimated numbers.

torifile
Mac Elite

Joined: Jan 2001

0

05/27, 02:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
The iPod has sold 5 mil

I read a report that the Apple has sold 5 million iPods. If that's the case, their markertshare may actually be ABOVE the 25% number, depending on how many were sold previous years. It's certainly more than 8-10%. (and Apple reportedly sold 810,000 iPods in the first 3 months of the quarter of this year, so last year's numbers aren't indicative of the actual impact of the iPod.) Moron.

hdog
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Joined: Apr 2002

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05/27, 02:27pm | report spam | close Reply |
You must be joking!

MP3 chips? Hard drives? That's like estimating housing sales by counting the number of bricks that were made. Give me a break. This is among the worst analyses I've even heard of.

Here's my question: Why lie? What is the motivation they have to undermine Apple's numbers by just making c*** up? The same analysis could be applied to the Rio, suggesting that iPod's share is even bigger. But no.

There is clearly zero editorial control at Business Week.

abrody
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 1999

0

05/27, 02:51pm | report spam | close Reply |
motivation to lie

system administrators are afraid that if Apple were to gain a foothold in the market, they'd lose their jobs since their machines are cheaper to maintain. These are the same people who are the highest paid next to CEOs of many major organizations. They recognize Apple's ability to produce products that are cheaper and easier to maintain, and are jealous of Apple's superior machines. It shows up again and again. There are so many myths about the Mac, it isn't even funny any more.

http://www.macvspc.info should dispell them.

iKenny
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 2002

0

05/27, 03:47pm | report spam | close Reply |
Sick of Salkever

I used to enjoy reading this column. It was a mix of criticism, suggestion, and sometimes even praise for Apple. Recently, however, it's taken a turn that I don't favor.

While I'm sure some of the points Salkever brings up are valid, for the last few months, every Byte of the Apple article published is telling Apple what it should be doing and isn't, or what it's already done wrong, or how stupid they are in Cupertino that they don't know the first thing about selling their own products. In fact, the last article that didn't criticize Apple was the March 16th article about the Spoken Interface technology, which means for the next six columns, he declared how Apple has screwed up royally.

I've never gone to business school, so I don't know much, but this seems to be becoming just another anti-Apple/Mac column. Of course it is BusinessWeek, which is known for being that way. Maybe they're just sour because they've predicted the grand fall of Apple for years, and it hasn't happened yet.

Stephane
Forum Regular

Joined: Sep 2001

0

05/27, 03:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
and backorders

They speak of shipped hard-drive equipped players but Apple has a huge list of iPodMini buyers waiting for a the player and its micro-drive... Maybe its potential marketshare but it will become a fact in a few weeks. And what's the point to use last year numbers with Apple sales figures growing so fast on a year to year basis ?

Makosuke
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Joined: Aug 2001

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05/27, 03:55pm | report spam | close Reply |
Huh...

It's good to take marketing hype and sales reports about a company's own products with a grain of salt, but the reasoning in this article seems shaky at best.

Aside from the disconnect between portable decoder chips and player unit sales (I like the house sales based on brick manufacturing analogy above, and although the writer did at least attempt to imply that the chips weren't used for anything but portable players, he didn't do a good job of it), there's also issues like type of player, how many are still in use, and markets the iPod isn't even really in yet. Basically, he takes issue with a figure that might be suspect, then proceeds to give an alternate analysis with as little or perhaps even less information to base his opinion on.

I do wonder: of all the portable MP3 players that have been sold, how many are still in use? I don't necessarily think that iPods are any more durable than others on the market, but it'd be an interesting figure to see.

testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001

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05/27, 04:17pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple and numbers

So my question is, Which "good data" do you choose to base your numbers off of? If you can't prove Apple wrong or right, then why bother writing this stupid article? This isn't news or even investigative reporting, it's just filler, fluff. There are no facts presented, just estimated numbers.

testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001

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05/27, 04:19pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple and numbers

So my question is, Which "good data" do you choose to base your numbers off of? If you can't prove Apple wrong or right, then why bother writing this stupid article? This isn't news or even investigative reporting, it's just filler, fluff. There are no facts presented, just estimated numbers.

The thing here is that its not apple's numbers, its analysts numbers they're questioning. Apple's not saying "We've got 25%". Some analysts are saying it (which Apple might repeat).

of course, when you don't have information, looking at component parts isn't exactly a great indicator.

z10n
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2003

0

05/27, 04:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
I've got a good answer.

Don't give a c*** about marketshare. Buy what YOU like. Why does everyone make a big deal if if the person down the street doesn't buy the same thing as they're buying? That person is an idiot, let him be. Be happy with what you've got, and f**k everyone else. There. Said it. Done. Goodby.

SpiffyGuyC
Dedicated MacNNer

Joined: Mar 2000

0

05/27, 05:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
Salkever

When's the last time this joker said anything good about Apple? Or, for that matter, seemed to have his finger on the pulse of the Company? Apple and Salkever have consistently managed to walk to two different beats. BW 2.0 could use a new Mac columnist, if you ask me.

Glitz
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 2004

0

05/27, 05:54pm | report spam | close Reply |
8%? Truly Apple :)

8% sounds like a truly Apple market share :)

kw99
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2001

0

05/27, 06:17pm | report spam | close Reply |
Sales grew by 900%

This is clearly flawed research. Apple's annual iPods sales grew by 900%. It is clearly still accelerating. In that situation, is it remotely accurate to use last year's numbers for components used in making these devices as a basis for claiming Apple's CURRENT marketshare is NOT at least 25%? NO, it is not accurate or valid.

Once the backlog of iPod mini's is cleared, they go international, and HP starts selling them, that number will probably go UP. Now, THAT's what Alex Salkever should used as his hypothesis.

bauhaus
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2003

0

05/27, 10:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
hypothesis

Do you even know the meaning of hypothesis? You sure as h*** aren't using it correctly.

(Bunch of uneducated fools debating a business analysis)

Sydney Tsai
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 2002

0

05/27, 10:46pm | report spam | close Reply |
How about the PCs?

I don't think there is 95% market share on PC too... They are just overblown.... do they? ;)

ApeInTheShell
Senior User

Joined: Nov 2002

0

05/28, 03:53am | report spam | close Reply |
Crummy news

It isn't called "marketshare" anymore, more like "cannibalizing".
When the Microsoft MP3 Player comes out will they report to us
the percentage and number of units sold within the first month?
Anytime Apple releases a great product that makes the competitors change their product line analysts and others complain. Where would they be without Apple?
eMachines needed to rip off the iMac to attract customers
Dell decided to copy the look of the Powerbook but didn't get the feel
Numerous Flash players boast more storage at a cheaper price but fail to mention you have to pay sometimes up to $200 for memory.
The iRiver and Dell DJ boast better prices but you need (rebates) to save.
Online Music stores needed Apple to take the plunge before they could get their feet wet and grab seconds and thirds.

Do they really expect us to swallow this crummy news?

kw99
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2001

0

05/28, 06:36am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: hypothesis

>Do you even know the meaning of hypothesis?

You have added nothing to the discussion. Thanks. You may exclude yourself from the "uneducated fools."

Hypothesis - I won't copy/paste any definitions, but some synonyms are:
unproven theory
conjecture
educated guess
basis for discussion

Sounds OK to me. Pick one and substitute...

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iPod's global marketshare numbers overblown?

updated 11:30 am EDT, Thu May 27, 2004

iPod global marketshare

price

LOL

That tears it

WHO CARES...

In other news

FUD

Interesting Timing

ur momma

uuhh...

The iPod has sold 5 mil

You must be joking!

motivation to lie

Sick of Salkever

and backorders

Huh...

Apple and numbers

Apple and numbers

I've got a good answer.

Salkever

8%? Truly Apple :)

Sales grew by 900%

hypothesis

How about the PCs?

Crummy news

Re: hypothesis

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iPod's global marketshare numbers overblown?

updated 11:30 am EDT, Thu May 27, 2004

iPod global marketshare

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price

LOL

That tears it

WHO CARES...

In other news

FUD

Interesting Timing

ur momma

uuhh...

The iPod has sold 5 mil

You must be joking!

motivation to lie

Sick of Salkever

and backorders

Huh...

Apple and numbers

Apple and numbers

I've got a good answer.

Salkever

8%? Truly Apple :)

Sales grew by 900%

hypothesis

How about the PCs?

Crummy news

Re: hypothesis

Login Here

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