The iPod turns five today, with over 68 million users worldwide. Apple launched the iPod on October 23 in 2001, with storage capacity of just 1,000 songs on its 5 GB hard drive but has managed to cover 72 per cent of the US portable MP3 player market in the span of five years.
The iPod was made available in 2001, in the US market for $399 along with an iTunes 2 CD, earbud-style headphones, FireWire cable, and FireWire-based power adapter. In the current scenario, Apple has sold around 39 million iPods in the last twelve months itself, with as many as 3000 different accessories.
Although the iPod has achieved iconic status, it does have its retractors, mainly for its DRM policy, Fairplay. With the launch of Microsoft's Zune in the near future and its arch rival Creative Technology's new Zen with features better than the iPod in the market, analysts say, Apple will have to do some serious soul searching to retain its position at the top. One reason is that Apple's Digital Rights Management (DRM) policy that allows compatibility only between its online digital store, iTunes and its range of portable MP3 players, iPods, may pose as one of the biggest hurdles for iPods in the near future. However, statistics show that even with the market being flooded with MP3 players in the past five years, Apple has retained its position at the top, so chances are that it may not budge from the no.1 rung even in the near future.
Source : Tech2
The iPod was made available in 2001, in the US market for $399 along with an iTunes 2 CD, earbud-style headphones, FireWire cable, and FireWire-based power adapter. In the current scenario, Apple has sold around 39 million iPods in the last twelve months itself, with as many as 3000 different accessories.
Although the iPod has achieved iconic status, it does have its retractors, mainly for its DRM policy, Fairplay. With the launch of Microsoft's Zune in the near future and its arch rival Creative Technology's new Zen with features better than the iPod in the market, analysts say, Apple will have to do some serious soul searching to retain its position at the top. One reason is that Apple's Digital Rights Management (DRM) policy that allows compatibility only between its online digital store, iTunes and its range of portable MP3 players, iPods, may pose as one of the biggest hurdles for iPods in the near future. However, statistics show that even with the market being flooded with MP3 players in the past five years, Apple has retained its position at the top, so chances are that it may not budge from the no.1 rung even in the near future.
Source : Tech2