iPod Now Accounts for 92% of Market for Hard Drive-based Music Players

[James Fee]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/Its+all+about+the+iPod/2100-1041_3-5406519.html?tag=mac.nn' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/Its+all+about+the+iPod/2100-1041_3-5406519.html?tag=mac.nn</a><br /><br /></div>" Research company The NPD Group said in a report released Tuesday that various versions of the iPod accounted for 92.1 percent of the market for hard drive-based music players, up from 82.2 percent a year ago. Players from Creative Technology and Digital Networks North America's Rio were a distant second and third, with 3.7 percent and 3.2 percent of the market, respectively. NPD analyst Stephen Baker attributed the results to a strong launch for new fourth-generation versions of the iPod, which arrived on the market just at the right time to dominate back-to-school buying. "Back-to-school has turned out to be a very big season for music players," Baker said. "In my day, you had big speakers and a bunch of components you had to lug to your dorm room. Now it's a six-ounce device." <br /><br />Competitors will have to contend with daunting brand recognition, however. In a recent survey of buying preferences among U.S. teenagers, analyst Jeff Klinefelter of Piper Jaffray found a strong preference for the iPod over competing products. Of the 600 teens surveyed, 16 percent already owned an iPod, and 24 percent planned to get one within the next year. Only 8 percent planned to acquire another brand of music player in that time."<br /><br />To be honest, I'm quite surprised that the iPod has such a large market share. Where is iRiver? 8O

[Chris Gohlke]

The iPod is a very good device with outstanding marketing and brand recognition.

iRiver is an outstanding device with very little marketing and no brand recognition. Word of mouth is only going to get iRiver so far. I think if they took on the iPod directly with some good marketing, they could be a contender. Without the mindshare, they are nothing.

[Gary Sheynkman]

lawsuit.....Apple is monopolizing mp3 players!

[James Fee]

The iPod is a very good device with outstanding marketing and brand recognition.

iRiver is an outstanding device with very little marketing and no brand recognition. Word of mouth is only going to get iRiver so far. I think if they took on the iPod directly with some good marketing, they could be a contender. Without the mindshare, they are nothing.But look at even Rio and Creative, two established brands. Together, they don't make up much more than 7% of the market.

Honestly, it is up to Microsoft to make this happen. Without their marketing, the hardware won't be there to support MSN Music.

[phillypocket]

Honestly, it is up to Microsoft to make this happen. Without their marketing, the hardware won't be there to support MSN Music.

I have to wonder though? Why is it up to Microsoft. Were is Creative with mainstream advertising? Have you ever seen a Creative billboard? TV commercial? How about Rio? Does anyone here know why these companies choose not to invest in mainstream advertising? Are they happy with their current market share?

Frankly apples market share seems in direct proportion to their mainstream advertising. One could only imagine what would happen if their competors matched or exceded their advertising. And I mean a consistant multi-year campain. Like every other mass marketed product.

[James Fee]

I have to wonder though? Why is it up to Microsoft. Were is Creative with mainstream advertising? Have you ever seen a Creative billboard? TV commercial? How about Rio? Does anyone here know why these companies choose not to invest in mainstream advertising? Are they happy with their current market share?True, in the perfect world, Creative would be advertising, but they don't seem to be doing so. Same with all the others. Microsoft, if they want WMA to exist on portable devices, will have to step up.
Frankly apples market share seems in direct proportion to their mainstream advertising. One could only imagine what would happen if their competors matched or exceded their advertising. And I mean a consistant multi-year campain. Like every other mass marketed product.You think? I wouldn't consider iPods ads all over the place. Most of it really is word of mouth. At this point, it will take more than just running ads to knock the iPod down. From the hardware side, its a much tougher fight than Microsoft has had on the software side. While its easy to say WMA is more "open" than AAC, that really doesn't matter when people are buying a player. The average consumer will just look to see if their music is available on iTunes and be happy with that. Maybe video will change the outlook or maybe even subscriptions, but that also assumes Apple won't be able to make a change. They were successful with the iPod mini and I wouldn't bet against them just yet.

The only way I see for WMA to fight back is to have Microsoft show users that they can have the same songs on the PC, Pocket PC, Digital Music Player, car stereo and their Xbox. Apple can't say that.

Or the better way is for Microsoft to buy Rio or iRiver and just market the thing themselves.

[Felix Torres]

To be honest, I'm quite surprised that the iPod has such a large market share. Where is iRiver? 8O

You should be surprised; its because of the methodology of the "study".
The numbers are for retail only, not online or other forms of direct sales. That leaves out DELL and the zillion no-name China, Inc products.
It is hard drive only, so it excludes all the flash-based players.
And the period chosen emphasizes Apple's recent introductions while excluding Creative, iRiver, and Rio's new players that shipped after the cutoff date.
Most player vendors have been targetting the holidays, not the back-to-school season, for the next-gen products; the Zen touch still hasn't made it to retail, the Carbon is only now filtering in, and the PMC's have been in stores for less than two weeks.
The Karma, the best of the current-gen players has been gone from stores for almost six months in places, and the replacement isn't due for a month, according to Maximum PC.
So, as far as retail is concerned, Apple is selling to a vacuum.
(Online and direct is a different story, but that's not the intent behind this study anyway.)

Now, if they would only start believing their press releases (which Apple usually does) and ramp up production accordingly, they'll end up flooding the market and bring down the price of *all* players by next summer. Which is when I may be in the market for the new Rio. :twisted:

[arebelspy]

[quote=PhillyPocket]
You think? I wouldn't consider iPods ads all over the place. Most of it really is word of mouth.

You're lucky then. I see their TV ads all the time, and their billboards (with the silhouettes holding an iPod) are all OVER the place!

More than the marketing though is the media. You hear about the Apple iPod in a news story once a day or so. When do you hear about the other ones? Hardly ever. Sites like this, but even moreso the mainstream media pumping them up is huge. Creative, Rio, etc. needs to be sending free samples to journalists, Talk show hosts, etc. And then following up sending those people press releases, etc. that will most likely get published. That would be a cheap and very effective form of marketing.

As far as the "what about iRiver" question, I asked some people in my classes today. Response: "iWhater?" ..and that's why Apple has the huge market share, everyone knows the name.

-arebelspy

[koriel]

Approximately 30-40 people I know own HD-based players and NOT ONE of them owns an iPod! 8O Talk about your statistical freaks! We own Creative, Rio, Archos and a couple of iRivers, but not one apple! Yet apparently 92% of us should own them! Who took ours? return them immediately!

[James Fee]

OK guys, sure...

Maybe the 92% is on the high side, but it only proves that other hard drive mp3 players have been a failure. We've been arguing about this since Digital Media Thoughts started and the iPods marketshare has gone up since then. It really doesn't matter why the iPod is successful, but what the others are going to do about it. Frankly I've seen no movement by any of them to reverse the trend.

Felix, your example of the Karma is perfect. How do you expect something like that to overtake Apple. It is like saying Linux will overtake Windows. Sure it can happen, but Microsoft has to screw up. To date, Apple has yet to make a mistake that they haven't corrected (though the low quality AAC downloads are getting close).

[Mojo Jojo]

So... if Apple is a success because they are selling in a vacuum, does that mean other companies are a failures for letting the vacuum exsist? :D

[phillypocket]

You think? I wouldn't consider iPods ads all over the place.
Your being sarcastic right? Not only are the all over the tv screens, but billboards (though admitedly not as much as last year), busses, and at least one of our major train stations (a joint venture with bose). This is the Philadelphia market I'm talking about. I can only imagine New York or San Fransisco. And outside of a computer magazine, I have never
seen an advertisement for any of it's competitors with the possible exeption of dell. And that was more of a "look what we have on sale this month!" type ad (and still few and far between....kinda like the pocket-pc "ads"). Nothing that conveys mind share.

I'll ask again, has anyone here talked to any of these other companies? Can you tell me why they don't advertise? Or maybe more fairly, what there promotional strategy is?

And I agree that Microsoft needs to emphise the "end to end'ness" of wma. (I would love to have a wi-fi wma car radio with a hard drive. Automaticly syncs while parked at home. &lt;hey, what happened to the drool emoticon> )

Edit:
Actually, now that I think about it, I think I've only seen creative sound cards advertised. I really don't recall an advertisement for their music players.

[Chris Gohlke]

iRiver is moving into the in-dash market

http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2004/irivercar.html

[Mojo Jojo]

...I would love to have a wi-fi wma car radio with a hard drive. Automaticly syncs while parked at home...

So would you be in interested in something like this PhillyPocket? :D

http://www.omnifimedia.com/products/omnifi_details.jsp?productId=12541

I didn't go too far into the specs about what WMA file types it supports but if you pick one up I expect a full write up so we can all throw things at you and be envious.

[James Fee]

Your being sarcastic right? Not only are the all over the tv screens, but billboards (though admitedly not as much as last year), busses, and at least one of our major train stations (a joint venture with bose). This is the Philadelphia market I'm talking about. I can only imagine New York or San Fransisco. And outside of a computer magazine, I have never seen an advertisement for any of it's competitors with the possible exeption of dell. And that was more of a "look what we have on sale this month!" type ad (and still few and far between....kinda like the pocket-pc "ads"). Nothing that conveys mind share.Compared to other digital media players, yes the ads are all over the place, but compared to other types of ads, they aren't that visable. I'll ask again, has anyone here talked to any of these other companies? Can you tell me why they don't advertise? Or maybe more fairly, what there promotional strategy is?I have not talked to any companies including Apple.And I agree that Microsoft needs to emphise the "end to end'ness" of wma. (I would love to have a wi-fi wma car radio with a hard drive. Automaticly syncs while parked at home. &lt;hey, what happened to the drool emoticon> )Stop that, you know we all want something like that. ;)Edit:
Actually, now that I think about it, I think I've only seen creative sound cards advertised. I really don't recall an advertisement for their music players.I've seen some Rio ads, but nothing more than banners on the internet. Frankly lately Microsoft has been more vocal with their "support for more than 70 players" mantra. Heck, we know more about the Dell Axim's than we do about the Dell DJ. Just shows how much a failure letting the hardware companies do the marketing.

The only non-Apple ads for media players I've seen in the past 6 months are for HP's iPod. How come HP can do it, but not any other company?

[Suhit Gupta]

All I can say is Bah! Of course, now I have to go and sulk in a corner due to the measly 6.3% and 5.6% dents Creative and iRiver have made in the MP3 player world. I hope to be seeing some of their representatives this evening at the DigitalLife Press Event in NYC. Hopefully I can give them some tips on selling some more devices. :-P

Suhit

[James Fee]

Well I just saw the new iPod ad with U2.

http://www.apple.com/itunes/u2/ad/480.html

What is it going to take to make these guys hold iRivers?

[Janak Parekh]

Compared to other digital media players, yes the ads are all over the place, but compared to other types of ads, they aren't that visable.
Must be your corner of the country. iPod ads are everywhere around here. It's gotten to the point where FuseTV started parodying them in subway stations and the like.

And, even more predominant are the walking ads known as people. It's rare I don't pass at least 10 people a day in NYC listening to music on their iPod. Yes, I said a day. There are days I see quite a few more.

--janak

[James Fee]

Well I do live in Arizona... ;)

[Jonathon Watkins]

That's a good add with U2. Say one thing, Apple know how to market stuff!

They own mindshare and are very smart with product placement. I am not seeing other Mp3 players advertised in mainstream media, but Apple still dominates.