iPod Sales

Since October 2004, the iPod has dominated digital music player sales in the United States, with over 90% of the market for hard drive-based players and over 70% of the market for all types of players. During the year from January 2004 to January 2005, the high rate of sales caused its U.S. market share to increase from 31% to 65% and in July 2005, this market share was measured at 74%.

The release of the iPod mini helped to ensure this success at a time when competing flash-based music players were once dominant. On January 8, 2004, Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced that they would sell HP-branded iPods under a license agreement from Apple. Several new retail channels were used—including Wal-Mart—and these iPods eventually made up 5% of all iPod sales. In July 2005, HP stopped selling iPods due to unfavorable terms and conditions imposed by Apple.

In January 2007, Apple reported record quarterly earnings of US$7.1 billion, of which 48% was made from iPod sales.

On April 9, 2007, it was announced that Apple had sold its one-hundred millionth iPod, making it the biggest selling digital music player of all time. In April 2007, Apple reported second quarter earnings of US$5.2 billion, of which 32% was made from iPod sales. Apple and several industry analysts suggest that iPod users are likely to purchase other Apple products such as Mac computers.

On September 5, 2007, during their "The Beat Goes On" event, Apple announced that the iPod had surpassed 110 million units sold.

On October 22, 2007, Apple reported quarterly earnings of US$6.22 billion, of which 30.69% came from Apple notebook sales, 19.22% from desktop sales and 26% from iPod sales. Apple's 2007 year revenue increased to US$24.01 billion with US$3.5 billion in profits. Apple ended the fiscal year 2007 with US$15.4 billion in cash and no debt.

Industry Impact

iPods have won several awards ranging from engineering excellence, to most innovative audio product, to fourth best computer product of 2006. iPods often receive favorable reviews; scoring on looks, clean design, and ease of use. PC World says that iPods have "altered the landscape for portable audio players". Several industries are modifying their products to work better with both the iPod and the AAC audio format. Examples include CD copy-protection schemes, and mobile phones, such as phones from Sony Ericsson and Nokia, which play AAC files rather than WMA. Microsoft's Zune device also supports AAC and it has adopted a similar closed DRM model used by iPods and the iTunes Store, despite Microsoft previously marketing the benefits of choice with their PlaysForSure initiative. Podcasts and download charts have also had mainstream adoption.

In addition to its reputation as a respected entertainment device, the iPod has also become accepted as a business device. Government departments, major institutions and international organisations have turned to the iPod as a delivery mechanism for business communication and training, such as the Royal and Western Infirmaries in Glasgow, Scotland where iPods are used to train new staff.


( Information Source: Wikipedia & Crave.cnet.co.uk )