Retail sources say its closing time for current iPod line
Resellers both near and afar are reporting signs that Apple's current line of iPod digital music players are on their way out the door, just as one prominent Wall Street analyst restates his claim that a $199 iPod touch is likely to be among the new models that will fill the void.
Stateside, people familiar with the inventory management systems of mass merchandizer Target say all current iPod models have recently seen their status shift from "Active" to "Discontinued" when scanned with handheld PDA scanners used by employees.
Those handhelds, however, aren't capable of displaying set dates for new planogram refreshes, as that information is said to be available only through the retailer's web-based intranet systems.
Separately, big-box retailer Argos in the UK is preparing to clear out its remaining iPod inventory in anticipation of new models in the coming weeks. A person familiar with the plans says the company recently took receipt of new point-of-sale displays promoting "price cuts" that should hit the retail floor during the last week of August or first week of September.
The displays include a "giant wall graphic" which is the "biggest poster" displayed by the retailer, that person said.
These initial signs of inventory ramp down come amid calls from some of the more prominent Wall Street analysts regarding the steps that will be necessary for Apple to maintain its current momentum in the digital media player business.
In a note to clients last week, Lehman Brothers analyst Ben Reitzes noted that availability of the 16GB iPod touch at speciality electronics retailer Best Buy has trailed all other members of the iPod family for several weeks.
"We continue to believe Apple will need to reposition the iPod touch line in conjunction with its anticipated new product announcement in early to mid-September now that the iPhone acquisition price is lower," he said.
On Tuesday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster issued his own note to clients where he voiced a similar view to that of Reitzes, adding that he expects iPod refreshes across the board with a sub-$200 iPod touch to boot.
"Specifically, we believe Apple will increase the capacity of the iPod shuffles as well as the iPod nanos (but maintain current price points); redesigned form factors for the shuffles and nanos are unlikely," the analyst wrote. "We believe the iPod touch may be redesigned and may enter the $199 price point, in line with the iPhone."
Stateside, people familiar with the inventory management systems of mass merchandizer Target say all current iPod models have recently seen their status shift from "Active" to "Discontinued" when scanned with handheld PDA scanners used by employees.
Those handhelds, however, aren't capable of displaying set dates for new planogram refreshes, as that information is said to be available only through the retailer's web-based intranet systems.
Separately, big-box retailer Argos in the UK is preparing to clear out its remaining iPod inventory in anticipation of new models in the coming weeks. A person familiar with the plans says the company recently took receipt of new point-of-sale displays promoting "price cuts" that should hit the retail floor during the last week of August or first week of September.
The displays include a "giant wall graphic" which is the "biggest poster" displayed by the retailer, that person said.
These initial signs of inventory ramp down come amid calls from some of the more prominent Wall Street analysts regarding the steps that will be necessary for Apple to maintain its current momentum in the digital media player business.
In a note to clients last week, Lehman Brothers analyst Ben Reitzes noted that availability of the 16GB iPod touch at speciality electronics retailer Best Buy has trailed all other members of the iPod family for several weeks.
"We continue to believe Apple will need to reposition the iPod touch line in conjunction with its anticipated new product announcement in early to mid-September now that the iPhone acquisition price is lower," he said.
On Tuesday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster issued his own note to clients where he voiced a similar view to that of Reitzes, adding that he expects iPod refreshes across the board with a sub-$200 iPod touch to boot.
"Specifically, we believe Apple will increase the capacity of the iPod shuffles as well as the iPod nanos (but maintain current price points); redesigned form factors for the shuffles and nanos are unlikely," the analyst wrote. "We believe the iPod touch may be redesigned and may enter the $199 price point, in line with the iPhone."
Comments
How is it that Munster doesn't understand that the Touch is not a competitor of the iPhone and so doesn't need to compete with it on retail price? Does he think that people don't understand the concept of a contract and how much they end up paying over its lifetime? Does he really have that low an opinion of the average consumer?
I hope they increase the Classic from 160GB to 240 or more? There are many who want to have all of their music in studios, offices, second homes and so on. Got 36,000 song loaded on and hardly any room left.
The Classic will be dead soon, at this refresh or soon after.
My guess is that the market for users who have or need upwards of 160GB of carry-around music content is insignificant, and anyone needing that much storage for video is not going to be using it on a Classic with touch size screens available.
Beyond that, its mainly an external storage device and I don't see where Apple gets any particular glory for that segment.
We'll see if I'm wrong.
I hope they increase the Classic from 160GB to 240 or more? There are many who want to have all of their music in studios, offices, second homes and so on. Got 36,000 song loaded on and hardly any room left.
Geese Mazzy,
I have my 160 Gig ipod filled as well but I'm a DJ and my music covers everything I could find in both English as well as Latin music.
I also have an iphone with that application "Simplify Media" that may resolve all my storage issues.
I hope they increase the Classic from 160GB to 240 or more? There are many who want to have all of their music in studios, offices, second homes and so on. Got 36,000 song loaded on and hardly any room left.
I don't want to be rude, but that amounts to a very small number of people. For the costs associated with producing a music player with that much storage, you should probably just buy a small, portable hard drive that you can plug into computers. I am no expert, but it would seem as though very few people have music libraries large enough to even fill the 80GB iPod Classic.
Geese Mazzy,
I have my 160 Gig ipod filled as well but I'm a DJ and my music covers everything I could find in both English as well as Latin music.
I also have an iphone with that application "Simplify Media" that may resolve all my storage issues.
Simply Media is a great APP on my iPhone too as I never load in music directly. But only when I am in a wi fi area and sometimes I have to wait for buffering.
I don't want to be rude, but that amounts to a very small number of people. For the costs associated with producing a music player with that much storage, you should probably just buy a small, portable hard drive that you can plug into computers. I am no expert, but it would seem as though very few people have music libraries large enough to even fill the 80GB iPod Classic.
Certainly not. I have less than 7000 songs using more than 104GB of space, and I know a few other people in the same situation. It may not be the norm, but it is certainly not uncommon.
Some also use their iPods to backup photos.
/Adrian
Certainly not. I have less than 7000 songs using more than 104GB of space, and I know a few other people in the same situation. It may not be the norm, but it is certainly not uncommon.
Some also use their iPods to backup photos.
/Adrian
Correct me if I'm wrong here but doesn't that mean that at 256 kbps your *average* song is over 8 mins long? What the heck are you listening to?
104GB *1028MB/GB*1028MB/KB*8b/B / (7000 songs * 256 kbps * 60) = 8.177 mins
Correct me if I'm wrong here but doesn't that mean that at 256 kbps your *average* song is over 8 mins long? What the heck are you listening to?
104GB *1028MB/GB*1028MB/KB*8b/B / (7000 songs * 256 kbps * 60) = 8.177 mins
About 40% of the songs are in Apple Lossless, with bitrates ranging from about 600kbps to 1200kbps.
/Adrian
About 40% of the songs are in Apple Lossless, with bitrates ranging from about 600kbps to 1200kbps.
/Adrian
Have you ever done a placebo test? I.E. Encode in 256 AAC vs Lossless and see if you can hear the difference without knowing which one you are listening to?
I ask because I've done it with a number of people and not a single person could hear a single thing when listening to the music at a normal level. (I suppose if you blasted it as loud as possible you might hear the nuances but most people don't listen to music that loud)
The classic is dead. Streaming your library over Wi-Fi, or even over the Internet is the future.
Tell that to my Dension IceLink in the car. Am I supposed to buy a new car now ??????
and then the world ends...
Why does Apple wait so late into the back-to-school buying season to update their lines? Most kids are back at college by Labor Day and have bought everything they need. They should get these updates out in early August.
That's exactly why - that's the best way to get rid of old stock They never release new iPods before the last week or two of the back to school promo at the very earliest.