4GB 'iPod Mini' and 15GB iPod

[greenstork]

Originally posted by maelstromr
What IS all this foolishness about pricing? Do any of you KNOW apple? When was the last time you saw some cheap piece of hardware from this company. Part of the POINT is that you pay for the better quality engineering and style of apple.

AND the big players and the minis are apples and oranges people. You can't equate "4 times bigger for only $50 more". That's like saying a portable home phone should be proportionally priced to a current cell phone. Yes the big one has better reception and sound quality, NO the small one is not proportioal because the TECH involved is different (AND SMALLER).

Combine the fact that I will now have to pay for iPhoto and iMovie upgrades with the overpriced $249 iPod mini and it's obvious that Apple milking loyal mac users to pay a premium for the Apple brand, and continued innovation. There's a yearly fee to update you Mac software for both OSs and now iApps.

I guess I can see how innovation costs money but the fact remains that it is becoming more expensive to be a Mac user every year, and to have up-to-date software.

As for the iPod mini, I just think that Apple is missing the boat. Some folks only care about price, not necessarily features. Some folks can only spend so much money and in the grand scheme of things, a $250 mp3 players might seem like too much to spend on such a product, regardless of features. It's a shame that they abandoned the affordable mp3 players market, instead opting only for a market on medium to high cost products, I think they missed a tremendous opportunity.

 

[Macmaniac]

Well since I work for an Apple retailer I will get it for cost, but even then it will be like $50 less then retail, I'm really disappointed, I wish it was cheaper, if it was $200 it would be perfect, Apple would make a killing, but instead they are going to cannibalize sales, they will sell few miniPods they will sell a lot of 15 gig iPods instead.

 

[vlazlo]

bleck, this blows...

 

[Flowbee]

Originally posted by Fender2112
3. If the retailers have to take shippments of all five colors like they did with fruit colored iMacs, I have a feeling there will be a lot of left over pink minies

I think pink will be very popular with women/girls. Gold is the color that worries me.

 

[Jetson]

Reconsidered.

I complained about the high price and I'm not alone.

However I reconsidered and looked at it from an economics point of view. At this price point the demand probably won't exceed the capacity of Apple to produce the mini iPods.

Better to market to those who are willing to pay than to be swamped by potential buyers that will be disappointed by having to wait for back orders.

And I think the new iPods are really beautiful. Kudos to Apple on a superb design!

 

[srobert]

Originally posted by Flowbee
I think pink will be very popular with women/girls. Gold is the color that worries me.

I don't like the gold one too but I'm sure it'll sell to the "bling bling" crowd ^_^

 

[brhmac]

The market wasn't asking for a smaller iPod

If the question is: How can Apple make a MORE AFFORDABLE iPod, why does Apple announce a SMALLER iPod?



Has anyone in the electronics/hardware industry known small size and affordable price to go hand-in-hand? (Not to mention battery life. How long will a charge last on these new models?)

IMHO, Apple should have dropped the price of the 10 gig model to $249. There was no need to eliminate it. $50 between the 10 gig model and the 15 gig model is reasonable, and Apple can respond to what consumers wanted: They get a MORE AFFORDABLE iPod.

And the sales/marketing writes itself...

So-and-so charges $249 for 4 gig model with lackluster design and no integration with the world's leading provider of legal music downloads. Through our listen-to-the-customer-we-really-want-you-to-switch-to-Apple mindset, we figured out how to give you a MORE AFFORDABLE iPod and give you 6 gig MORE storage. AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

 

[drbyers]

somebody in marketing at Apple headquarters is getting fired right now, as we speak.

heehee.

 

[Flowbee]

Originally posted by greenstork
I guess I can see how innovation costs money but the fact remains that it is becoming more expensive to be a Mac user every year, and to have up-to-date software.

As compared to all the other quality software you use that's always updated for free??

 

[dbenwoods]

Sure, if you compare it to the regular ipod, it seems over priced - "why not spend another $50 for an additional 11gigs?"

However, Apple has thrived against cheaper competing hard drive based players - it is expanding from juke-box type players into the smaller, more portable players - the healthclub, mountain biking, snowboard crowd.

At $249 for 4 gigs, it is very strong against a Rio Cali 256Mb, going for $199 - in this scenario, the argument is, "why not spend an extra $50 for 16 times the music, plus the cool factor. And the interface is - oh about a thousand times better... And it syncs with iCal. And it holds contact info. And it holds txt notes. And it has games."

Apple isn't going to compete by "wal-marting" the product in a race to the bottom. It is a prestige / status product.

 

[anthonymoody]

Originally posted by greenstork
As for the iPod mini, I just think that Apple is missing the boat. Some folks only care about price, not necessarily features. Some folks can only spend so much money and in the grand scheme of things, a $250 mp3 players might seem like too much to spend on such a product, regardless of features. It's a shame that they abandoned the affordable mp3 players market, instead opting only for a market on medium to high cost products, I think they missed a tremendous opportunity.

Yes, those "some folks" you speak of buy peecees.

You price crybabies really make me laugh. See you at Xmas '04 when Apple's unit market share has doubled.

TM

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Its so hilarious to read some of the illinformed posts here. Look, a 2004 Ford Thunderbird w/ V8 engine is around $36K. A BMW Z4 w/ 2.5L I6 engine is also around $36K. With the logic around here people should be flocking to the Ford with the bigger engine instead of the BMW. But they are not. The new Thunderbird is a dud while BMW has the #1 sales position in luxury roadsters.

If any of you actually listened to the Keynote, you'd have caught that Steve is going after the high-end flash memory player market. People who buy these types of players value size over storage. THAT is the mini's niche. Sure the 15GB iPod is a better value, but believe it or not, there is a sizeable amount of the population that thinks the iPod is too big for there purposes. That is why they don't by an iPod over a high end flash player in the first place.

$249 is expensive, but when have Apple products been cheap? I can't remember any time. The mini's closest competitior, the the 4GB Rio is $199, but its plastic, has a clunky interface, and isn't compatible with iTMS. If you want to load up your player with Windows Media, go ahead, but its not nearly as flexible as the AAC files Apple uses with iTMS.

 

[fraeone]

Wow too much complaining. This thing is better than flash based players, and cornice hd based players, and is the cheapest ipod ever.

What's the beef? Too many people believing in rumor sites and their ridiculous $99 price speculation.

 

[jero]

apple dropped the ball with the price on this mini pod. thats just my opinion. i'll take a 15 gig instead.

man this place is jumping! so many users on! lol.

 

[mainemike]

My Sample Test On Non-Mac Users

The consensus in these threads is pretty strong and I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree.

The iPod mini is overpriced. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought the Moscone Center had emptied out at the very moment Jobs announced the pricing.
The silence was very telling!

To take this a small step further, I asked three of my son's buddies what they thought of the iPod mini. These kids (except for my son) do not use Macs or own iPods. First reaction when they saw pics of the mini was "Cool!" and "Man, that's tiny!" followed by a general consensus that the mini iPod looked "sweet". I then mentioned that the mini costs $249.

All three of these kids said "Say what?" All of them said they'd buy a 15GB iPod for $50 more if they could afford it, but they can't, so they won't.

Bummer about the price, Apple.

 

[allonzoallegro]

IMHO, Apple should have dropped the price of the 10 gig model to $249. There was no need to eliminate it. $50 between the 10 gig model and the 15 gig model is reasonable, and Apple can respond to what consumers wanted: They get a MORE AFFORDABLE iPod.

And the sales/marketing writes itself...

So-and-so charges $249 for 4 gig model with lackluster design and no integration with the world's leading provider of legal music downloads. Through our listen-to-the-customer-we-really-want-you-to-switch-to-Apple mindset, we figured out how to give you a MORE AFFORDABLE iPod and give you 6 gig MORE storage. AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

Man, this hits it right on the money.

 

[gothamac]

"I have a feeling there will be a lot of left over pink minies"

Wrong you are. They'll be the hottest seller for sure.
I'm not sure I like the hard edges on the top and bottom. Would have been nice if smooth like the iPod.

 

[blueflame]

WAIT!

all those ilife updates are free? arent they?
live the new iphoto, new i movie, etc...? i think they should be. they always have been in the past. Even idvd was really free, you just needed to buy the packaging to get it cause it was huge.
Andreas

 

[Macmaniac]

Something tells me that Apple if their smart will do an about face and lower the price, they did it on the G5, so if there is enough pressure they may lower the price think of that.

 

[fcpguy]

Low end MP3 Market?????

Originally posted by humangod
i don't understand this. steve said the mini ipod is supposed to go after that low-end cheap-o mp3 player market.

how is a $250 ipod competing with the 100 dollar mp3 players?

steve is kinda clueless, if you ask me.

I mean no disrespect but, perhaps you are the clueless one...Steve didn't say he wanted to go after the low end mp3 player market, he said he wanted to go after the high end flash based player market.....try listening and comprehending a bit before you write a page long tirade.

Plus, can someone please explain to me why everyone is so pissed off??? Relax, it's just a product.....I'm pretty pissed off that plasma screen TV's are still astronomical in price, but I don't have a heart attack over it. If you want a well engineered piece of technology that also has a "cool factor" then there's going to be a higher price to pay....otherwise, go buy some piece of crap that'll meet your needs and be pissed off that you don't have what you want because you didn't want to spend a few extra bucks or you couldn't afford it....I'm tired of you people that think Apple should all of a sudden cater to the low end....they shouldn't and we shouldn't expect it either......Apple is what it is and I don't understand why some people here are constantly whining about them not becoming the next Dell or Gateway...and if they did you all would be complaining that Apple doesn't make the cool innovative products that we've all come to know and love. You can't have it both ways.....

 

[autrefois]

Re: Genius Marketing

Originally posted by D*I*S_Frontman
Like it or not, Apple is a BRAND and you are paying for the name and all it stands for.

Can I get it for 50 bucks cheaper if they take the Apple logo off??

I agree that it will be a top of the line product, but not everyone has top-of-the-line salaries. People who don't have a ton of disposable income cannot pay $250 for a music player. They will buy a cheaper one made by some other company, and be disappointed they can't have Apple.

The 2gig at $199 MAXIMUM, in addition to the 4gig, would have been a better choice if they really wanted to go after the average music listener better. The technology is obviously there, and they still would have made a profit.

I guess they justify it by making the software so cheap [I am pleasantly shocked about GarageBand btw.]

They apparently want iLife "for the rest of us", but not iPods.

 

[JrdBeau]

I would hardly call these "mini" only 1/2" narrower and shorter and 1/8" thinner.

The price is the most disappointing thing tho. no reason to get this. At $199, they would have flown off the shelves. If you are going to charge $249, you should get the dock included.

 

[Sayhey]

Originally posted by Fender2112
If the retailers have to take shippments of all five colors like they did with fruit colored iMacs, I have a feeling there will be a lot of left over pink minies

I'm betting if I go to Golden Gate Park in six months there will be an awful lot of teenage girls roller blading with the pink minis. The color scheme is great. The price is aimed at the high-end flash players and who wants to bet which company sells more 4gb players in the same next six months - Rio or Apple? My bet is on the iPod mini.

 

[greenstork]

Re: Genius Marketing

Originally posted by D*I*S_Frontman
People wanting Apple to play the razor-thin margin commodity computer market don't understand that Apple's way of sidetracking that cutthroat market ensures quality, innovation, and longevity. We will always pay as much or slightly more for an Apple product--because as a group we understand that user-friendliness, stability, build quality, and aesthetic beauty are all nice things to have in a computer. If we didn't feel this way we'd all be cobbling X86 motherboards into hotrodded yet wildly unstable, high maintenance systems for less money. Count me out on that. My time in this life is worth something, and I don't want to waste a single minute trying to hack through some config conflict with my buggy OS.

While I think Apple strategy has worked for them thus far as a niche computer market player, they will not dominate any market unless they can undercut the price of the competition. Monopoly rules of engagement 101. Now I'm not saying that market domination is Apple intention but this seems to be in direct conflict with their marketing and messaging of online music/iPods to date. I personally think that the small/high quality niche approach is wrong for online music/iPods but that just my opinion.

 

[Flowbee]

Originally posted by srobert
I don't like the gold one too but I'm sure it'll sell to the "blig blig" crowd ^_^

Ah, yes.

And am I alone in thinking that Black would have been a great addition to the color line-up?