iTunes visits skyrocket on Christmas Day
Traffic to Apple Computer's iTunes website on Christmas Day was up 413 percent when compared to last Christmas as new iPod owners flocked to the web to download iTunes, according to data released Wednesday by Hitwise.
The data also showed a 110 percent increase in visits to the company's online store. Overall, the Apple Store ranked fourth on the firm's list of most visited retail websites on Christmas Day.
Meanwhile, visits to Zune.net -- the site for downloading music software for Microsoft's digital media player -- showed an increase of 1,030 percent on December 25, 2006 versus the previous Monday (December 18, 2006).
Still, the iTunes rival's initial performance was overshadowed by the popularity of Apple's iPod, as the market share of visits to the iTunes website increased by 1,222 percent in the same period, and outnumbered visits to Zune.net by 30 to 1.
"For the third holiday season in a row, the iPod has been the must-have Christmas gift," said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise. "Competitive offerings have not yet succeeded in capturing the attention of music listeners, and the surge in visits to the Apple Store shows that iPod owners are also engaged in filling and accessorizing their new devices."
Nintendo DS was reported to be top product search term sending visits to shopping and classifieds websites last week. The product term ‘ipod’ moved back into the second spot followed by 'nintendo wii' and 'wii.'
It should be noted that Hitwise in its website rankings tracks visitor traffic to Apple's iTunes website at www.apple.com/itunes and not to the company's actual iTunes Store.
The data also showed a 110 percent increase in visits to the company's online store. Overall, the Apple Store ranked fourth on the firm's list of most visited retail websites on Christmas Day.
Meanwhile, visits to Zune.net -- the site for downloading music software for Microsoft's digital media player -- showed an increase of 1,030 percent on December 25, 2006 versus the previous Monday (December 18, 2006).
Still, the iTunes rival's initial performance was overshadowed by the popularity of Apple's iPod, as the market share of visits to the iTunes website increased by 1,222 percent in the same period, and outnumbered visits to Zune.net by 30 to 1.
"For the third holiday season in a row, the iPod has been the must-have Christmas gift," said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise. "Competitive offerings have not yet succeeded in capturing the attention of music listeners, and the surge in visits to the Apple Store shows that iPod owners are also engaged in filling and accessorizing their new devices."
Nintendo DS was reported to be top product search term sending visits to shopping and classifieds websites last week. The product term ‘ipod’ moved back into the second spot followed by 'nintendo wii' and 'wii.'
It should be noted that Hitwise in its website rankings tracks visitor traffic to Apple's iTunes website at www.apple.com/itunes and not to the company's actual iTunes Store.
Comments
It should be noted that Hitwise in its website rankings tracks visitor traffic to Apple's iTunes website at www.apple.com/itunes and not to the company's actual iTunes Store.
So, in other words, this data means squat.
So, in other words, this data means squat.
Well, not really squat. It shows browser's interest in the iTunes, so a little bit more than squat. Significant information will be released with the earnings report.
Well, not really squat. It shows browser's interest in the iTunes, so a little bit more than squat. Significant information will be released with the earnings report.
It implies that new iPod owners (the kind that go download iTunes when they open their iPod for xmas) soared 400% from this time last year.
So, in other words, this data means squat.
Exactly. This doesn't say too much. Now if we can get the number of users and track downloads from both services on Christmas Day then that would be worth reporting and discussing.
Exactly. This doesn't say too much. Now if we can get the number of users and track downloads from both services on Christmas Day then that would be worth reporting and discussing.
It was nuts on iTS on Christmas Day. It took me 3 hours and over 70 attempts to redeem 4 iTS Gift Cards. To get to your shopping cart was almost impossible. They were swamped.
It implies that new iPod owners (the kind that go download iTunes when they open their iPod for xmas) soared 400% from this time last year.
It barely means that, because this year, nano and shuffle do not include the CD with iTunes on them at all, so you have to download it in order to use the product if you either don't have iTunes or have an outdated version that does not support the new models. Last year's shuffle and nano did include the CD. That alone can probably account for most of the increase. I think it would have been more consumer-friendly if they had at least put copies of iTunes on the device itself.
In other words, I call bullshit on any interpretation that assumes the increase means something concrete.
Who the hell actually goes to apple.com/itunes, vs. launching iTunes to go to the store? Their data is the furthest thing from complete I could possibly imagine.
As mentioned by a poster, the new iPods don't come with iTunes software. So a new user to iTunes or someone using an older version of iTunes would have to access the apple.com/itunes to DL the software.
i live in canada and i tried christmas and boxing day to get on to itunes and it was like the opening of an apple store got 4 songs dloaded and give up
this is what it was like a freaking crowd
apple like they didnt even expect that volume
i think apple should have provided more volume for the new and old users
So, in other words, this data means squat.
Yup. I was impressed by the numbers until I got to the last sentence. As pointed out by others, last year all iPods came with iTunes, hence little reason to visit www.apple.com/itunes. This year, no new iPods come with iTunes, so those without iTunes 7 (all new iPods require iTunes 7) have to visit www.apple.com/itunes to make their new iPods work.
It is interesting that hits to the online store are up 110%. People looking for iPod accessories?
now, i used the itunes store pretty frequently. i have maybe 100 songs and 15 or so videos. so i gave a very significant percentage of my own overall purchase history away as gifts. i think the itunes store is really going to be crazy busy for the next few weeks.
I can't find the story now but back a few years Hitwise were using Price-Waterhouse as auditors on their method of tracking websites. ie. a big accountancy and consulting firm. They were even mentioning this in all their spiel.
Yet, a two man accountancy firm from England were appearing above Price-Waterhouse in their list of most popular accountancy practices top ten.
I host a fair section of the UK's bicycle trade on my servers. I know the stats for each and I was getting full reports from Hitwise for a few years. The actual site stats bear very little relationship to what Hitwise report.
Really, place absolutely no importance in these stats at all.