Monday, March 01, 2004

Cost of Mini IPod Raises Questions

Reuters: "Is $249 a mass-market price tag for a portable music player? That's the debate raging in consumer electronics circles after Apple Computer debuted its latest version of the iPod, which hit stores Feb. 20. But some observers are concerned that Apple's asking price for the Mini freezes out many casual music fans who otherwise would be interested in buying the device. 'I'm disappointed with the price point,' says a major-label technology executive who had hoped that pre-announcement rumors of a $100 retail price would prove to be true. It is a sentiment that has been echoed throughout the music and consumer electronics industries since January, when the Mini was unveiled at the Macworld confab in San Francisco ... The problem, critics of the Mini say, is that rival devices with storage capacities that mirror a standard iPod can be had for the same price as a Mini. For instance, Dell Inc.'s Dell DJ 15 -- a device with 15 gigabytes of memory that stores 3,700 songs -- also retails for $249. 'They've priced themselves out of the market,' Richard Bullwinkle, a senior product manager at Rio Audio, told Billboard in an interview earlier this year ... Apple reported full-year 2003 [iPod] sales of 1.45 million units ... shipments of [all] MP3 players totaled 3.8 million units in 2003."

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Monday, March 01, 2004

Cost of Mini IPod Raises Questions

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