Home » Technology » iPod turns 20 and is still sold by Apple – 10/23/2021 – Tec

iPod turns 20 and is still sold by Apple – 10/23/2021 – Tec

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It may look like a collector’s item, but the Apple still sells iPods.

On the company’s website, it is possible to buy an iPod Touch for R$ 1,700 in Brazil. Given the timidity in sales, many speculate that the company only maintains this line to launch a special edition on the anniversary of 20 years of the product, which takes place this Saturday (23).

Released in 2001, shortly after Steve Jobs resume the company with the mission to raise it, the iPod was a quick hit for Apple and the industry.

The model represented a milestone for the phonographic industry and served as the basis for the signature of streaming in the molds known today. Light and small, it became one of the first technological items ever carried close to people. Earlier inventions, such as discman or battery-powered MP3 players, were cumbersome, displayless, and analog-handled.

“How many times have you been on the road with a CD player and thought, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t bring the CD I wanted to hear'” was what Steve Jobs said when announcing the iPod. “Having your entire library together is a quantum leap in the way you listen to music.”

In the first year, the device generated US$ 143 million in net sales, with less than 1 million units sold. Apple grew 7% in 2002 — 35% was the iPod’s share. In 2003, sales more than doubled, reaching $345 million, with strong appeal to the American consumer. In Brazil, the product was from the middle class and upper middle class.

From there, the curve grew exponentially, with jumps of 300%. just before the iPhone, Apple’s flagship to this day, the music player represented 40% of the company’s revenue — that’s what took it beyond computers, restricted to a loyal audience.

When he launched the iPhone in 2007, Jobs said it was three devices in one: Internet communicator, phone and iPod. That year, the player’s sales still grew US$ 629 million, with 31% more units sold compared to the previous year.

At the same time that it sold the objects —small, light, colorful, with a tactile circle to move the songs forward, backward and to adjust the volume —, Apple profited from subscriptions, a model that created the basis for the operation of your app store on iPhone. It charged $0.99 per track and $9.99 per disc, retaining 30% in iTunes, the audio library.

For many experts, the iPod was as important to the market and the company as the iPhone (or more). The smartphone only came about thanks to progress in iPod-centric software, hardware and design.

“It was the principle of all the technology that supported the development of the iPhone, the cost-reduction model for digital technologies”, says Hugo Tadeu, professor of innovation at Fundação Dom Cabral.

One of the main changes from MP3 competitors was the speed of transferring music from computer to device — there was no cloud. The transfer was done by a cable with FireWire input, faster than USB.

“The iPod technology has advanced to the whole streaming process that we see today. The iPod patent system brings all the electronic acceleration technologies for music download and, fundamentally, the subscription system”, adds Tadeu.

In the business model, one of the main changes promoted by Jobs was, in the second generation of iPod, to open its use to Windows customers. At the time, the share of Apple computers was very low compared to Microsoft. From that decision, the product became popular.

At the other end, the company created an alternative against piracy. For consumers in the United States, it was more worthwhile to pay for a song and access it immediately than using download sites like Napster and Kazaa, which sometimes took hours to load a track.

As Jobs announced, the iPhone has faked the iPod, making it irrelevant as thousands of songs are now stored on a cell phone.

“Apple had the courage to kill the product that was its great product, its most popular item. About five years ago, they still discreetly sold the classic iPod, with the wheel in the middle”, says Eduardo Pellanda, professor from PUCRS and an information technology specialist.

The iPod Touch, for some reason, remains an offer on the company’s website, which does not depend on this revenue.

The item is not itemized in the company’s financial report, but belongs to the “wear, home and accessories” group, which represented $30 billion in sales in 2020. The figure was boosted by AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch and Home Pod.

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