Mr. Hoo, Creative's CEO isnt too impressed with the iPod Sh...

[MacBytes]

Category: Humor
Link: Mr. Hoo, Creative\'s CEO isnt too impressed with the iPod Shuffle.
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[Wigletbill]

Mr. Who?

[3Memos]

in the humor column. Nice one!!

[Nermal]

Mr. Hoo, Creative's CEO isnt too impressed with the iPod Shuffle.

He doesn't have to be. Consumers are the ones who need to be impressed, not CEOs of competing companies

[tech4all]

So I think the whole industry will just laugh at it....

We'll see who has the last laugh HA. HA. HA.

[ALoLA]

I never had any desire to get a Creative player, but I've already put my order in for an iPod shuffle. I saw an ad for a Creative MuVo (MustVomit )... 256MB at the everyday low price of $99.99.

[mj_1903]

I am pretty sure Apple will have the last laugh in this case. It doesn't really matter that it is '5 generations old', it's more that it is actually a perfect 1st Gen flash player and it's cheap.

[redAPPLE]

well guess what mister who, steve jobs isn't impressed either.

[3Memos]

The power of the RDF is not with Mr. Sim Wong Hoo, sadly.

[Mindcrime]

Over here in gadget-happy Taiwan, those micro flash players have been all the rage for years now. When the iPod was first introduced, everyone just shrugged and said "it's too big, no FM, etc." Then, once the iPod fad hit big time in the U.S. and the Apple-Taiwan marketing team started plastering those monocolor iPod adverts all over the city, the Taiwanese can't get enough iPods. They all want one, even though the iPod has less features than most mp3 players over here.

[combatcolin]

Well of course he's not going to be impressed with a rivals product.

Although, to be honest the Shuffle dosn't impress me either.

[Mord]

the cheap cheap shinese mp3 players he refers to are almost as big as an ipod mini, are ugly as sin and crash on you having to restart them .


some twat at school bought 20 of them from hong kong and started selling them.

[nagromme]

A glance at Amazon's top-selling MP3 players list (once you scroll down past all the iPods!):

Rio Forge 512 (120 songs): $220 list, $158 after mail rebate
Rio Forge 128 (30 songs): $130 list, $60 on sale

iRiver iFP 799T 1GB (240 songs): $250 list, $230 on sale
iRiver iFP-190T 256 (60 songs): $130 list, $80 after mail rebate

SanDisk 1GB (240 songs): $200 list, $151 on sale
SanDisk 512 (120 songs): $180 list, $114 on sale
SanDisk 256 (60 songs): $100 list, $68 on sale

Creative MuVo Micro N200 512 (120 songs): $130 list, $125 on sale
Creative NOMAD MuVo TX FM 256 (60 songs): $170, $100 on sale
Creative NOMAD MuVo TX 256 (60 songs): $180 list, $86 on sale

And none of those appear to be as small as the Shuffle.

So yes, Apple didn't bulk out their player with FM radios and voice recorders. They went for LED indicators and no screen, which won't suit everyone. But they ALSO undercut everyone on price! An iPod need not be THE cheapest player... but this time, it is. (Among Amazon's top 50 sellers.) SanDisk came closest to Apple's price.

There are even USB flash drives at Amazon that cost as much or more than the Shuffle... and don't play music!

[applefans]

Originally Posted by combatcolin

Well of course he's not going to be impressed with a rivals product.

Although, to be honest the Shuffle dosn't impress me either.

If he really feel that way, then i feel sad for Creative (but happy for Apple). He chooses to ignore a product that can burn his own company down to ashes.

[wrldwzrd89]

Originally Posted by nagromme

A glance at Amazon's top-selling MP3 players list (once you scroll down past all the iPods!):

Rio Forge 512 (120 songs): $220 list, $158 after mail rebate
Rio Forge 128 (30 songs): $130 list, $60 on sale

iRiver iFP 799T 1GB (240 songs): $250 list, $230 on sale
iRiver iFP-190T 256 (60 songs): $130 list, $80 after mail rebate

SanDisk 1GB (240 songs): $200 list, $151 on sale
SanDisk 512 (120 songs): $180 list, $114 on sale
SanDisk 256 (60 songs): $100 list, $68 on sale

Creative MuVo Micro N200 512 (120 songs): $130 list, $125 on sale
Creative NOMAD MuVo TX FM 256 (60 songs): $170, $100 on sale
Creative NOMAD MuVo TX 256 (60 songs): $180 list, $86 on sale

And none of those appear to be as small as the Shuffle.

So yes, Apple didn't bulk out their player with FM radios and voice recorders. They went for LED indicators and no screen, which won't suit everyone. But they ALSO undercut everyone on price! An iPod need not be THE cheapest player... but this time, it is. (Among Amazon's top 50 sellers.) SanDisk came closest to Apple's price.

There are even USB flash drives at Amazon that cost as much or more than the Shuffle... and don't play music!

If that's true...look out, flash player market - here comes Apple, ready to stomp on your territory...
Just imagine what improvements Apple will think of for the next iPod shuffle - continuing to amaze everyone, myself included.

[hob]

This is all well and good, and I agree with most of the points already mentioned - but I think it's also fair too point out that Apple mustn't get complacent. They're selling lots and lots of iPods now, because they're cool. Sales have skyrocketed as we have seen - but fashions change. I will always cherish my good ol' iPod because I have always enjoyed listening to music on the go (Discman, Minidiscman, iPod 3G).

Creative are a very potent potential rival to Apple - some of their advertising is very damaging to the iPod... just pick up any magazine published around christmastime - certainly in the UK at any rate...

Hob

[Fredstar]

Did they say Creative sold over 2 million Micro's over the christmas quarter?!
That is pretty damn good and i am assuming the ipod sales were for the whole product range from mini's to photo's...?!
how do they only have 6% odd of the whole market share?!

[applefans]

Originally Posted by Fredstar

Did they say Creative sold over 2 million Micro's over the christmas quarter?!
That is pretty damn good and i am assuming the ipod sales were for the whole product range from mini's to photo's...?!
how do they only have 6% odd of the whole market share?!

We never know, but it seem that Creative had lots of flash players. They didn't break down the proportion of flash/HD. SJ said the share of flash players is around 30%. Also, I believe the market share quoted by SJ is USA only, and creative sell a lot of flash players worldwide. Here in HK, though ipod is popular, there's zillion models of cheap flash players around.Of course, that's before the ipod shuffle. Now it seemed that ipod shuffle is the cheapest flash player in town unless the other make a huge price cut. It's interesting that Apple now gone in a price war.

[nagromme]

Originally Posted by Fredstar

Did they say Creative sold over 2 million Micro's over the christmas quarter?!
That is pretty damn good and i am assuming the ipod sales were for the whole product range from mini's to photo's...?!
how do they only have 6% odd of the whole market share?!

Apple has nearly the entire HARD DISK player market. The flash market is also sizable however.

[chelseasian]

Actually as with most Asian (Chinese) names the last name (surname) is always placed before the name (given name).

Thus his last name is Sim not Hoo, his name is Wong Hoo.

[macridah]

...wants to win the mp3 war. How about aim for something realistic like number 3 market share. HP will have number 2 simply cuz the resell the iPod

[eazyway]

Originally Posted by Fredstar

Did they say Creative sold over 2 million Micro's over the christmas quarter?!
That is pretty damn good and i am assuming the ipod sales were for the whole product range from mini's to photo's...?!
how do they only have 6% odd of the whole market share?!

1.The data is likely a month or so out of date for a true comparison.
2. PLUS Creative;s sales are for all their MP3 line flash included.
3. The chart Jobs shows is Revenue Dollars.
So forthe time of that chart it was likely the case. Work it back now though you may find that Creative had revenues near 200 M ($100 per unit...likely too high) or about 18% of Apple's revenue. Now take 18% of Apple's Share of 65% and you get 11.7% at $70 per unit that share is at 8%.
At the end of the Christmas Q when Apple was out of stock Creative likely had their best sales.

[the_mole1314]

Mr. Hoo (or Boo-Hoo) dosn't get it. US people don't want FM tuners that can't get reception, or small hard to read LCDs, they want ease of use and a name. They get both with an iPod shuffle. Oh, lets not forget about that small little thing called price.

[Photorun]

Originally Posted by the_mole1314

Mr. Hoo (or Boo-Hoo) dosn't get it. US people don't want FM tuners that can't get reception, or small hard to read LCDs, they want ease of use and a name. They get both with an iPod shuffle. Oh, lets not forget about that small little thing called price.

Not to mention most FM stations are sucktacular playing the same old crap formula every hour. Hell, a 16 MB MP3 player could hold most radio station's daily playlist. I have my iPod hooked through my Audi, and a six disc CD changer, I've listed to the radio in my car maybe twice in a couple years. It seems it's the MP3 maker market trying to put all that and a bag of chips in their players that aren't getting it.

[Fredstar]

Sorry guys i read the artical in a rush and i thought they said that the Creative Micro (5gb opposition to the mini) sold 2 million over the christmas period alone. So lots of flash sells, the guy is obviously is a bit annoyed that Apple have brought out these Shuffle's to go after the flash market that is obviously a lot bigger in units than the HD one.
I will say it again but the opposition don't have a CHANCE now. As you guys have said the small screen is torture to navigate and who wants the radio with bad reception?! Portable radios cost about £5 now for really small ones.