iPods shunned in favour of mobile phones with music players
4 September 2006 by axxxr Next generation iPods are set to lose out to mobile phones incorporating digital music players,reveals the 2006 Digital Music Survey.
The findings strongly suggest that the mobile industry is winning the battle for affections in the strategic contest for command of the developing integrated phone market. Is the Mobile Downloading market growing? Indeed, consumers appear far more attracted to the idea of purchasing downloads through a radio. The concept of a “Buy Now" function on a radio appealed to 19% of music consumers surveyed compared to only 11% who found mobile downloading very appealing.
Comments On 6 Sep 20:24 DeLa wrote As long as the makers try to close up their systems, it won't sell. Why doesn't the k610 e.g. have a fm radio? Because the big moble operators want to make money by forcing you to listen to the very expensive streams over 3G. It is the same issue as with the vodafone branded phones that have buttons redirecting you to the not-free wap-portal placed all over the phone. It is this blind focus on forcing the customer into expensive products that will fail them to produce itunes-killing phones. On 6 Sep 15:53 DoctorMantis2008 wrote Why did the direct-to-mobile download market stall? Likely because music purchased this way is "locked" to the phone and can't be transferred to or played on anything else. The same could be said about iTunes purchases. Except that: 1) Those purchases can be played on up to 10 different computers. 2) Those 10 computers can transfer purchased songs to any number of iPods. 3) Those 10 computers can also create audio CDs of the purchases. However, iTunes is not perfect, and must be adapted as follows for it to survive new and future challenges. 1) DRM implications need to be relaxed. If *I* legally purchase music, *I* should have the RIGHT to put that music on ANY device (iPod or not) that *I* own. 2) The iTunes software thus needs to be "opened" to recognize any music player, iPod or not, and function accordingly. 3) iTunes-purchased songs need to be offered in a variety of bit rates, beyond the awful 128 kbps. On 6 Sep 02:25 Prom1 wrote A lil' iPod History: iPod had 8months supported ORIGINALLY by third party sync software NOT by Apple for PC users. For Apple user it was the iSync that did it all. Then they pushed HEAVILY with music Industry; Jobs did his research and found that at 99cents/pence was just the right spot to DL+purchase music. iTunes Music Store is BORN! Its has such a HUGE lead in the USA & Europe. Apple made a BAD choice selecting Motorola for music, but they should work with SE; but its too late, SE has plans with Sony for a MOBILE music store - seperate from SONIC which is NOT a good idea. It should be integrated with Sony's online music store, but no1 wants to RENT music especially with DRM protected tracks that you CANNOT move off the MSDuoPro. Could look better but Europe is NOT the center of the world like this study focused on wtih just 3000 users. On 5 Sep 20:10 Don wrote Just to prove that analysts and polls are rubbish, have a look: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=15769 On 5 Sep 18:44 van wrote Only when the supporting software improves will the ipod be in danger, the secret of the ipods success is the itunes music store -> itunes pc software -> ipod integration, all other companies are playing catch up in this area. Some might have better hardware etc but none have the basic integration. Sony learned this to their cost with the minidisc/mp3 supporting software, it was/is very poor. The current SonyEricsson hardware & UI is very good but the supporting software is still poor (usability & installation). On 5 Sep 15:48 Ithy wrote I can't wait for a W1Ki (W1000i) or something similar to once and for all, set straight the competition.. music player, camera phone (hopefully Cyber-shot), huge storage ammount, mid-size screen and all the facilities of the W900 / P910i (hardware and some of software let's say) and the world will say: Nokia Who? iPod What? On 5 Sep 11:12 duxxyuk wrote I think SE are not far from the mark. If they take their W810, add the P900 scroll wheel on the side and add album into the walkman application they will have their iPod nano killer. On 5 Sep 09:32 DeLa wrote Sure, the mobile phone will kill the iPod like it killed pocket calculators, gaming consoles, electronic purses, walkie-talkies, portable gps systems and digital camera's before. On 5 Sep 09:15 OT wrote I have confidence that the hardware will eventually catch up that can offer user excellent user-experience. I think a much bigger challenge is the ecosystem behind it. On digital download side, you have strong personality with consumer-oriented vision like Steve Job made iTune what it is today. After all, iPod would be nothing without seamless integration to iTune. On the mobile side, things are a huge mess. You have the unholy alliance of telco and music industry each trying to drive the industry. With exception of Japan or Korea, the result is almost comical. In many part of Asia, you see telco wanting 50%+ per of the take and you see music label want another 50%+. Often times, the math adds up to over 100%. Just ridiculous. As long as the very crucial problem of ecosystem is not solved, all-in-one device will work, but it will only benefit phone manufacturer and may eventually die because of lack of legitimate content behind strong ecosystem. On 5 Sep 09:00 Towelman wrote I've heard all this before. The phone/MP3 combo is still clumsy and the iPod is now "currency" with real image and must-have kudos....even if it has been surpassed as the best ages ago. Phones also have a very short market life and are redundant as soon as they hit the shelves. Not so the iPod. Simple is best. On 5 Sep 07:46 Don wrote Oh no, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. iPod killers have come and gone. Remember Creative, Sandisk? The iPod is not and was never created to be an all in one device. It performs its main function, music playing very well and provides the best user experience. Uhhhh....Greg, when will the battery issue be settled? I think we have been waiting for about 10 years. The iPod will stay in its niche and phones with all in one capabilities will continue to appeal to a certain market. Who wants to watch CSI on a 1 inch screen? On 5 Sep 03:17 jibjib wrote Unless Microsoft and Apple expand upon thier one dimensional Zune and Ipod products phone companies will soon rule the portable music/movie industry. My 6280 takes great photos, pauses the songs when I receive incoming calls and allows me watch full length movies on my phone using a 2gb card. All from one device that is light and cheap. Take heed Microsoft! On 5 Sep 02:46 drlau9 wrote Tbh, anyphone can kick the ipod battery's ass. Even with aeroplane mode off, and wireless features on. At the moment nokia + samsung and other less known asian companies are incorporating 4gb or 6gb compact flash sized Hdd's in their phones. Imagine that and having Hi definition tv at the same time.. Ooh wait the good ole' boys at Sony + Sharp are thinking about it. Drx On 5 Sep 02:29 greg wrote im not surprised. the music quality from the newest phones can rival or even surpass ipods. the only thing lacking is battery life and harddisk size, but that will be solved soon. |
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