Shuffle Sales Surged 50%

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/04/01/ipod_shuffle_sales_surge_50_as_ipod_touch_maintains_top_slot.html' target='_blank'>http://www.appleinsider.com/article...s_top_slot.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Sales of Apple's most affordable iPod shot up more than 50 percent a week after the company unveiled new, more compact models that shift the push controls from the player itself to the included pair of earphones. Barclay's analyst Ben Reitzes relayed via a report earlier this week data from market research firm NPD showing that sales of iPod shuffles grew 51 percent the week of March 21st, the first full week the third-generation players were on the market. Sales continued to gain momentum the following week, rising another 10 percent."</em></p><p><span></span></p><p><em><span><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1238642015.usr105634.jpg" /></span></em></p><p><span>Sounds like they have a winner on their hands, and from what our very own Vincent has to say, I'd think he would agree. Combined sales for all ipod models were a different story, showing a 38% decline from the same time last year, which is right along with the industry average for all digital media players. So while some of the decline could be due to the new shuffle, it is more likely due to the economic factors. &nbsp;One caveat, however, is that these figures don't include sales from Apple's online store or distribution centers outside the U.S. &nbsp;</span></p>

[doogald]

I saw this yesterday, but then I wondered today if these sales truly are the new one, or people rushing out to buy the old 2G Shuffle before it goes away?

[Jason Dunn]

I saw this yesterday, but then I wondered today if these sales truly are the new one, or people rushing out to buy the old 2G Shuffle before it goes away?

Hah! That would be a funny quirk if true.

But here's the thing I've noticed about consumers over the years: most don't have the knowledge to understand the limitations of what they're buying. Believe it or not, I've had dozens and dozens of comments on my YouTube videos about the Zune from iPod owners who wanted to switch to the Zune, but they wanted to know if their iTunes music would play on the Zune. The answer, with the exception of iTunes Plus tracks, is "no" due to the iTunes DRM. I've explained that people can upgrade their tracks to be DRM-free, etc., but in general all these people are shocked and dismayed - because iTunes DRM is so seamless, they didn't realize it had that limitation. They thought it was their music and they could play it on whatever device they wanted.

I suspect the same will hold true of the new Shuffle - people will think the controls on the headphones are just great until the headphones break/get lost and they want to plug in another pair they own, etc. Most people don't realize the down-sides to technology until it bites them on the nose. :)