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Ipod

In: Business and Management

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The death of the iPod
Johnny Davis
March 22, 2011

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mp3s/the-death-of-the-ipod-20110322-1c4lw.html#ixzz1rzbCdfXZ

The iPod Classic, as the famous scroll-wheel design is now known, hasn't been updated now since September 2009, with a modest capacity jump from 120GB to 160GB. On the Apple Online Store, shipping times have slipped from 24 hours to 1-3 day in the UK. Across the US, several major retailers have reported short supplies, leading to speculation the device may soon be discontinued. It didn't even warrant a mention at Apple's annual Developers Conference in 2010. "The iPod's essentially finished, give or take," says Dr Alice Enders, a former senior economist at the World Trade Organisation who now reports on global music markets for media consultancy Enders Analysis. "Sales have been in decline for some time. The converged media device is the way forward." In other words: the iPhone, the iPod Touch and the iPad - devices that the iPod paved the way for, devices that have helped push Apple's latest profits to a record-breaking $US20b. If the iPod now finds itself as the least-loved of the company's shiny portable devices, you get the sense Apple is probably OK with that.
The iPod is 10 this year. Developed during 2001 and brought to market in just eight months, the circumstances surrounding its launch were hardly auspicious. For a start, it debuted days after 9/11. The press launch promised "the unveiling of a breakthrough device", the only other information on the invitations from Apple's Silicon Valley HQ was some small print along the bottom: "Hint: It's Not a Mac". The assembled media probably figured that was just as well. Apple's most recent computer, the G4 Cube, had failed to match the success of its iMac - the candy-coloured, egg-shaped machine that had transformed the desktop computer from functional grey

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