Archive for the ‘iPod’ Category

The sales of the new iPod video are surprisingly good, taking into account the fact that no research has been made for the customer market and their needs or requirements.

A possible disadvantage for the sales may be the fact that the negative advertising has been made. This negative advertising concerns the vulnerability of the screens, the easy scratching surfaces and other several features. However, the sales are up due to the great success among the teenagers, among very busy people who travel a lot.

Some researches show that instead of the iPod video success and publicity the Amazon online store the most popular iPod is the nano model. However, the sales are ahead expectations and in the case of other stores are outselling the popular iPod nano. These high sales may be due to the high storage capacity, video features and reasonable prices. From this point of view, a selection of users may be made, as the nano edition iPod attracts more MP3 users. Therefore, a new trend and a new profile of user appeared taking into account the high sales for the new video iPod.

Another aspect of the great sales concerns the fact the new iPod video is not a competitor for the TV industry, but more a complementary device. Although the rating of some TV shows or films may lower, the iPod video may also contribute to the fame extend of some TV shows or films. The sales may be also triggered by the trendy urban lifestyle and capacity of influencing the preferences and needs of the others. The fact that the episodes of the TV series such is the case of “Lost” or “Desperate Housewives” may have contributed to the great success and great sales of the new edition of the iPod.

Other sales were going up as they developed from the new edition of the iPod and this is the case of the iTunes Music Store. In this type of store you may buy episodes of the famous TV series, music videos and pictures. The parallel development of two complementary services – the handheld video device and the special store for it – is a great achievement. Besides, the iPod is the best selling music online store and it will probably be the best music video online store. The sales may also rise due to the new available TV series or TV shows of the famous TV Channels.

Taking into account the fact that the iPod is the best seller in the United States, being the most successful music player, it was easy to predict high sales for the new edition, even it is a video iPod. The prices were lower as the lower-cost players were introduced on the market in the last years, but the nano edition has increased the prices. With the new iPod video the price has been pushed beyond the average selling price.

That is why the sales of 100 iPods every minute may seem not surprising at all and sales of 14 millions in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2006 are considered not bad at all for such a company. The sales for the iPod video may also rise together with the spreading worldwide of the popularity of this edition of iPod.

However, the iPod video doubles the Apple’s sales. The sales were made skyrocket due to the great success of the new iPod video outselling in some cases other types or editions of iPods. Nevertheless, the maximized sales are due to the new video features, longer battery life, more options and more memory space enough for a lot of music, music videos, TV shows and episodes, and even lots of photos for the photo album. These features and improvements make the new iPod video so popular and fashionable. These aspects and others (games, possibility of checking the e-mail, possibility of finding out the time in other cities and other useful features) suit very well the contemporary lifestyle.

Technical devices are, firstly, devices which provide a practical usage. Still, an increased concern in how these devices should look and what their particular style expresses is not insignificant, either.

The design of the new iPod video is rather unique and different from all the other models of the iPod series, which basically includes 4 generations of this device. Firstly, the design of the new iPod had to be adapted to the optimized features of the product. Secondly, the most important factor when designing this item was the fact that it had to have a large and colored screen, in order to provide the video feature at a high level. Even more, even though it is a technical device, the iPod always had a fashion of its own, which made the item, besides a provider of music (photos and now, videos), a trendy accessory, which young people preferred to wear. Considering this, the design engineers of the Apple team managed to pay an increased attention to all the aesthetical features of the device and took care of all the tiny details which actually made the iPod look great at the end.

The iPods were found on the market in various colors since their appearance. From the intense and bright pink iPod of the first generation to the elegant and popular white, the iPod managed to keep the same style, even through different colors. Even more, the most famous iPod ads were always focused on bright colors, such as orange, green, intense turquoise and lots of shiny pink. The iPod video is found on the market today in two basic colors: white and black and the choice of these colors is owed to the fact that, on one hand, the previous iPod nano had the same colors and it was a big hit product since it was launched and, on the other hand, the fact that with the new iPod video, the marketers and the advertising team wanted to promote a more serious look of this device, with a subtle and more elegant style. Still, the ear buds for this device are kept in the same color, white, as they have been since the first appearance of the iPod on the market in the year 2001.

The reviews that regard the aspect and design of the new iPod video mention the fact that some black ear buds were expected, as well, in other to fit better with the elegant look of the black iPod video. Even more, regarding the colors of the new iPod video, the reviews mention the fact that, while people expected the white iPod video to require more maintenance than the black one, the reality shows the fact that the dirt is much more visible on the black device. At the same time, Apple offers in the large package which includes the iPpod a protecting sleeve for the video device. This sleeve is colored in light grey and manages to protect the iPod and keep it clean, at the same time.

The new package of the iPod video brings many new aesthetic and stylish features: the text and the Apple logo on the box are embossed with silver, which makes the black package look elegant and elitist, which is exactly what the company wanted.

The new iPod video has a wide range of new qualities and among these, the most important is, without any doubt, the video feature. Due to the fact that the market already had a small and portable device which basically played games, but also played videos, the new iPod video was released with some suspicions of the critics. The video iPod is hardly the first portable video player on the market, as the device belonging to Sony claims to be the number 1 portable video player in the world, but it is principally used to play video games. Even so, the sales of this new product turned out to be surprisingly high, a fact which was obvious shortly after the first semester.

The main concern regarding the product was the fact that due to the small screen, the people willing to watch a serious movie on it would be limited. In fact, studies show that most people prefer to feel the actual movie, while watching it in front of a big screen, like the one in the movie theatres. Even more, the new cell phone with a video feature which was so famous in Asia was used for watching movies only for a few minutes, considering the fact that it had a small screen which couldn’t allow catching all the quality details of the movie. The critics even mentioned the fact that, while being on a bus, in a cab or waiting in line at some office, the video iPod with its tiny screen might be a good solution, after all. This is due to the fact that this activity is considered a great snack or a great break. Based on this, the analysts mentioned that if Apple wanted to really hit the market, they should opt for an iPod with a bigger screen, so that customers would be eager to watch even the long movies on this device.

Another aspect which was highly debated was the fact that the battery life of this new device lasts less than expected. While the play station portable has a battery which lasts up to 8 hours while watching a movie, the iPod video only provides 2 hours of battery life, which is a big disturbance, when trying to watch a full length movie on this small digital device. Another thing that the critics attacked was the fact that the iPod takes too long time to download various movies. If for the play station portable, this task is doable in less than 3 hours, while the QuickTime 7 Pro took almost 12 hours to encode the video in an iPod-friendly format.

The sales of the new iPod video show the fact that the public accepts and wants this new product with a lot of interest, due to the fact that it can play music, store pictures and play movies at the same time, a fact which makes it a multifunctional device. Even if the new item received many criticism, the shirt-pocket-size new video iPod, seems to be one of the most preferred objects of the teens of today, as they use it to store and listen to thousands of music and other audio files downloaded straight from the Internet or from DVD’s, cameras and from the computer files.