iPod shuffles still selling well?

AppleInsider

Information gathered from SigmaTel's quarterly filing implies that Apple's low-capacity iPod shuffle digital music players may still be selling well despite more feature-rich offerings introduced by the company over the past year.



SigmaTel supplies Apple with digital music decoder chips that are used inside the 512MB and 1GB iPod shuffles.



In a research note released to clients on Wednesday, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu said Asustek -- Apple's overseas iPod shuffle manufacturing partner -- accounted for 11% of SigmaTel's revenue during its recent quarter, representing a 31% increase quarter-to-quarter.



The analyst believes these results indicate that iPod shuffle sales "may be turning out better than expected," noting strong promotions and sales of the players through online mega-retailer Overstock.com.



Last week Overstock began advertising the iPod shuffle on its main page, discounting the 512MB shuffle to $89.99 and the 1GB to $109.99. In the past, Overstock has reportedly helped Apple move tens of thousands of iPods that were in Apple's inventory.



In a related note issued on Tuesday, Wu said checks with industry and channel sources revealed that demand for Apple's iPod nano now appears to be uniform, with sales of "whites" catching up with "blacks" and even 2GB models catch up with 4GB models.



The analyst also added that fifth-generation iPod video sales are off to a strong start, "with demand causing lead-times to stretch to one week and in some cases two weeks for black models."



Wu expects Apple to sell more than 9.4 million iPods in total during the three-month period ending December 31st.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

nagromme

I know someone who LOVED the nano, but ended up with a Shuffle to save money. He wasn't sure about his decision until it arrived. He loves the Shuffle, and has no wish for a nano.



Simple is a good thing sometimes. The Shuffle is the BEST iPod for some people's needs.

imeowbot

Quote:

Last week Overstock began advertising the iPod shuffle on its main page, discounting the 512MB shuffle to $89.99 and the 1GB to $109.99.

Those are still the HP leftovers, check out the model numbers.

nordstrodamus

My wife has a shuffle and she liked the nano when it came out, but wasn't willing to give up the USB thumbdrive features of the shuffle.



I'm waiting for someone to come out with a lanyard that adds a standard USB post to the nano AND has the good in-ear buds.

cxl200

I've got a Gen. 4 40GB iPod and a 1GB Shuffle and I use the shuffle a lot more. I'm not a portable music freak, but I'm a runner and the shuffle with its lack of moving parts and general thrash-ability works really well for me. I also love the fact that iTunes compresses the songs before adding them to the Shuffle as I import all of my music at lossless compression. I'd love it if Apple added support for this feature to the full-sized iPod. I'd gladly let it compress overnight in order to easily import more of my music collection onto my 40GB iPod.

robin hood

I really like the Shuffle as well, and still think that for many people, it's the best MP3 player around. Especially for $99.



I bought my mother one for her birthday, and sometimes borrow it to listen to something.... Just drag over that audiobook or music selection you wanted to listen to before you leave. Awesome device, and goes to prove that sometimes simple is best.

chazzer3

You do see alot around, and I must admit that they look really cool, and so simple. I'm quite tempted to get one, especially the way that you can use it as a pen drive, I didn't know that, so on the bottom, its a usb port?



Cool.



Charlie -

chazzer3

You do see alot around, and I must admit that they look really cool, and so simple. I'm quite tempted to get one, especially the way that you can use it as a pen drive, I didn't know that, so on the bottom, its a usb port?



Cool.



Charlie -

Quote:

Those are still the HP leftovers, check out the model numbers.

What does that mean, are they any worse?

alberto

I have an iPod mini and an iPod 512MB Shuffle. I like the mini, great stuff inside and a lot of space, I used it mostly connected to my Stereo at many parties, but the iPod Shuffle its with me everywhere, 250MB of Music and the rest to tranfer file at college, the Shuffle is great! I regret I didn't bought the 1GB version

fireemblempride

Any chance the shuffle will get updated soon?

vishalca

I think Apple should continue the trend and release the shuffle in black as well!



That would sell well.

jegrant

When the 512MB Shuffle was recently on sale at ALDI for $59.99, I saw a woman walk out with three of them for Christmas gifts. I think it's great, and a good iPod to give kids - it's cheap and doesn't have a lot of parts that can break, and can be used at school for file storage, very easily.

kresh

Quote:

Originally posted by jegrant

When the 512MB Shuffle was recently on sale at ALDI for $59.99, I saw a woman walk out with three of them for Christmas gifts. I think it's great, and a good iPod to give kids - it's cheap and doesn't have a lot of parts that can break, and can be used at school for file storage, very easily.

That may have been my wife. I bought two of them. When I got home and told my wife, she went and got three. $59.99 was was too cheap to pass up.

imeowbot

Quote:

What does that mean, are they any worse?

It's basically a difference in warranty and support. Warranty is through HP, and they don't promise Mac support so you may be on your own with any connectivity issues that arise.



More to the point of the story, it really doesn't say anything good or bad about how well the Apple Shuffles are selling, because these are units that Apple already sold to HP in the past.

vl-tone

You know what I find shows that the shuffle is still selling well?



The 512MB model is still $99, the same price that it was released at the beginning of this year. At the time it was really competitive, giving you twice the space as competitors. Now, competitors caught up, and you can get a competing product with the same space at the same price, but with a screen as a bonus. If the shuffle sales dropped, Apple could lower the price and still retain very large margins. Maybe they want (also) to protect the nano sales from being cannibalized by the shuffle.



Anyway don't get me wrong, I still think that a shuffle is a good deal, and the navigation system, while limited is very well thought. It's all controlled by a thumb, but with much less movement than with the scroll-wheel. It also enables "blind-operation" which is nice for people that have trouble with their vision and also anyone that don't feel or can't look at the screen all the time, like when walking.



Having said that, I'm buying a nano Friday and will sell my shuffle for around $50. I already had like 4 offers from people I know, maybe I should raise the price



I hope Apple will eventually bring down the price of the nano, and the shuffle. I'm pretty sure they'll do it, at one point they will have no choice. In a few years, competitors will be able to sell very small $99 4gigs music players with color screens, and 1000 songs is the sweet point. To compete, Apple will have to cover this part of the market.

chagi

I'm a very happy 512MB Shuffle owner, can't say much more than that. :P

progmac

Quote:

Originally posted by FireEmblemPride

Any chance the shuffle will get updated soon?

What is there to update? I guess they might make it thinner or something, but it seems like everything is there. Somebody suggested a black version, which i guess would sell (though i don't like black computers or electronics)



On another note, do people here have protective cases for their shuffles or are they so durable that cases are unneeded?



On a final note, the Apple special deals section has refurb 1gb shuffles for $99, seems like the best deal around

alberto

I have the Apple Sport Case for the Shuffle because I run a lot but I only use it when I am trainning, my shuffle is without any case all the time

afalkner

I realize that there isnt much to update on the shuffle. But still everything in computers and electonics (of any worth anyways) gets updated. and the sheer purpose of the shuffle goes against larger drives. Also with the nano at 2 and 4 gigs i doubt they would make the shuffle 1 and 2? Anyone think they might add a 1 line display? I could see a tiny display to show the song and artist. I know I know the shuffle doesnt need a display....but its really the only thing i can see them updating.

macslut

I have the 1GB Shuffle, the 4GB Nano and the ROCKR. The ROCKR isn't as bad as the reviewers suggest, but it's certainly no iPhone. It's really USB1.1 (as opposed to 2.0) that kills the ROCKR. This prevents a grab-n-go habit for the phone...and that's what I love about the Shuffle.



The Nano is great for all the extra features, but I do miss the ease of just plugging the Shuffle directly into a USB port. It's really quite cool for sneakernetting.



If I could update the Shuffle, I would split it into two models. One would be the lowest-cost possible model which would be the iPod 512MB, white only as it exists today.



The second model would be 1GB and have some sort of display, even if it was a single line.



I would add Podcast support to both of them! Give the switch on the back a Podcast mode which plays only Podcasts, while the other modes play only music.



Oh, and speaking of Podcasts...



iTunes should have a "convert video podcasts to audio-only when transferring to this device" option.



In the meantime, I have to keep avoiding the Apple store so I don't buy a video capable iPod! The daily podcasts for RocketBoom is probably going to do me in.

robin hood

Add a small 2-line OLED display to the 1 GB shuffle only, and use it to bring the price back up to $149. Might not be such a bad idea.