From Gizmodo:


I was amazed at these statistics. I knew the iPod was popular, but I didn't think this popular. So what is Apple doing right and everyone else doing wrong?

without knowing this institute - these numbers a not realy meaningfull unless you know the method through which they where gathered (was it a spot check (n=?), or did they guess it from earlier selling numbers, or etc etc)
_if_ the numbers a true - marketing?! this probably a very vital point regarding this topic.

http://www.npd.com/

I think they are right. I saw another market research some months ago, based on data from major electronic devices retailers and from manufacturers themselves, and by then the iPod was already past 50%.



I agree. Here in Brazil, Apple's marketing is so effective that iPod is becoming synonym for Digital Audio Player - even CD and Flash-based ones.

And they deserve it. You don't see other brands doing a marketing effort nearly as big as theirs.

As my boss pointed out, those percentages are probably dollars not units. Which seems a bit more reasonable.

thanks for the link, as far as I can see, they look far more reputable than suspicious. though I'm generally a bit careful if faced with either news which relies on pure numbers from somebody else, or articles / findings which don't give easy access to important background information on how they acquired their knowledge.

*ot* it's good to know that the .com domain is not also taken by this racist crap.

Well, I guess the marketing budgets of companies like Rio or Cowon are nowhere near the marketing budget of Apple, so what can they do about it?

If Microsoft ever release a player watch out

Apple would have greater recognition (been around for years) and marketing power over Cowon and Rio etc, because they don't just specialise in DAP's, but get a majority of their income from Mac sales

I also think the market share is like that because iPod was one of the first HDD audio players around. They also pick up the Apple fanatics market share, as well as the female market share (who go more so for the look of the device). They've also got that scroll wheel, which has become an unofficially patented navigational advantage for the iPod

I would probably have got one myself if they had a better battery system (better life+replaceable) and better format support.

Personally, I've got a Cowon iAUDIO M3 which I'm very happy with. FLAC and Ogg support, replaceable 14hr battery (35hr battery life in the M3L version), FM radio and voice recording. Though no screen on the main unit (can be both advantageous and disadvantageous)

My point here though is that Cowon only sells DAP's as far as I am aware, and Apple would have greater financial and human resources for research, engineering and marketting and the iPod is a great device because of this. (though Cowon, and other DAP producers are holding their own in various markets)

iPod is also becoming a synonym for DAP's in Australia too, somewhat disturbing, but understandable in a sense (digital audio player is a bit of a mouthful when referring to such a device)

BTW, is this statistic for a specific country (USA?) or global?

On those first two points, remember that Mac sales have been declining for a while now. Macs are not everywhere, and the Mac market share continues to decline. Apple users are vocal on the internet, but in the real world are quite a small minority. There's much more to the iPod's dominance than just Apple fanatics.

Those stats are for the US.

Edit:
Additionally, iPod sales account for almost 23% of Apple's fourth quarter revenue. [from MacCentral]

I'm glad I just ordered an iRiver H120 ...

I think its right... at my house there are 2 iPods and no one else is getting one so thats 2/3 = 66% for the iPod. Pretty spot on that report

Regards

iPod sales spiked like crazy in Apple's 4th fiscal quarter (most recent). It sounds like people had been waiting for Sony's DAP offering and upon discovering what a user-unfriendly and expensive disaster it is, they said "the hell with it" and went with the iPod en masse.

Hmmmm. I'm doubtful. Of the people I know with an HD based player, I and four others have Creative Zen Jukeboxes (two including me wanted the 60Gb size that Apple don't offer) and one has an Ipod. Hardly a scientic survey but I still can't believe 68% would go for looks rather than cost and function. Each to their own I suppose.