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Originally posted by RStone
For all you who think the new iPod mini is too expensive, just go hunt down the competition. Maybe then you'll understand the price point (even if it does seem confusing next to the low end iPod):

http://creativex.creative.com/products/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=3&idSubCategory=20

The closest thing Creative has sells for over $500. As for Rio:

http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/shop/_templates/cat_list_Rio.asp?cat=53

1.5 Gb is the closest at $219. $30 difference.

Steve pointed it out very clearly. He's targeting the HIGH END FLASH PLAYER market. Not the dirt cheap market. And in the high end market, it's very competitively priced if you take a moment to look around.

Another poster pointed out that the 15GB Dell DJ at $249 is a much better deal per GB. While they can't compete on style, many lower income buyers see value as more important.
 
Thinking wronf about the price...

Stay with me for a minute...

I was disappointed about the price as well. At first. But now I think I understand.

Apple probably doesn't see a need to make the price $199 (or $149) IMMEDIATELY. But watch for them to drive the price of this down. They have made iPod slightly more accessible to more people. They are probably still dealing with cost issues. These take time to drive down. Watch for this guy to be $199 (or less) by Christmas 2004. In time to sweep the rest of the market.

They probably figure that there won't be a lot of buying over the first 9 months of the year...so they'll get the "early adopters" of iPod Mini (a dumb name, I think). Then start to drive the price down...first $229...then...$199...etc.

They probably have room to move on this.

Think about it. Everyone thought Apple was crazy when they (originally) came out with the iPod. Crazy like a fox it turns out.

I think Apple is quite aware of their market opportunities and seems less likely to squander it this time.
 
You know what?

I live in Italy. Only 2 months ago $249 would have ment €249 euros. Today it is €195 euros!!!! that's cool!!! it is as if you paid it 195 dollars!! Watch out on ebay for speculators.


Simon
 
I have never seen anything like this; Everyone is obviously disappointed. Everyone keeps talking about the rio player for 249.00. There's a Dell player for 249.00 also and it competes with the 15gb ipod.
The only killer here is ITUNES. It's so dope and it only works with the Ipod. Musicmatch and napster are reason enough to stay away from Dell.

Apple really messed up with the 249.00 mini-pod. C'mon people; this is a monumental failure!!!!
 
Originally posted by gerardrj
Noooo.
Steve stated that the iPod mini was going to compete for the high end flash market.
Steve specifically stated that the low-end flash market is not a place to play. Their research shows that people toss $50 players in the drawer and never use them because they hold so few songs.

From personal experience I know this to be the case. I was given a Rio 64MB player and only used it a few times, it was pointless to only carry 12 songs on it. I use my 5GB iPod most every day.


40 year old mom who's buying an ipod to work out with, or to carry her tunes around with is not looking at "flash" or hard drive" in an mp3 player. she has no clue what either mean. she's looking at how much the player costs, and how many songs it can hold. when she sees the ipod mini costing $249, and holds 1000 songs, she'll then take a look at this:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_2/602-5351964-9981405?asin=B00009QSET

and then she'll say, "oh hey! this one holds 10 times as many songs, and it only costs 50 dollars more. and hey! look at that! it has a built in radio tuner with it!!"

she's not going to care if it has flash memory or a hard drive, so shut up and quit saying "high end flash player." she has no clue the mini ipod is a "high end flash player."

the point is, apple made an mp3 player that costs $50 less than a high end mp3 player, but holds significantly less songs than other mp3 players in it's price range. what the hell is the point in that? we're still not going to get the person who is only willing to spend </= $150.

steve showed a graph chart. he showed that the ipod has something like %37 of the market share in mp3 players. he said he wanted to go for the rest of the market share. he said nothing about "high end flash player market." there's a reason the ipod only has %37 market share. not everyone is willing to dish out more than 200 bucks for an mp3 player!!

we still HAVE NOT penetrated the entire mp3 player market spectrum. we're still only in the expensive, high end market range. and, it's worthless for its cost. it holds 50-75% LESS than similar products in its price range. i think most can agree that $249 and $299 is in the same price range. again, what is the point of this thing? steve said the point of it was to pierce the the rest of the market, but this can't do it. it's still just another ipod. an ipod that now is pretty much the same price, but holds a whole lot less songs. sure it may be smaller, but hey, its big brother already weighs less than two cd cases and is already almost too small for most men with big hands. it was already small enough. its price does not justify what it can do. it holds 4GB of songs. for $50 more, you can get an mp3 player from a different company that hold 40 GB of songs.

and btw, i don't care what YOU want in an mp3 player. i don't care that you wasted your money on a 64 MB mp3 player. there's a market out there for somoene who wants an mp3 player to hold 2 or 3 hours worth of music. i'm in that market! and i'll be buying something from that market very soon. steve said he wanted my market share, but he's not going to get it now.

i'd be fine if apple didn't try to advertise this for the lower end mp3 market. because it's not a low end mp3 player. it's a high end mp3 player, with low storage capacities, and the same price as other mp3 players that hold more songs.

all apple did was re-relase the original ipod with a new look and 50 bucks off. show me how it's different. this will not help gain market share.
 
why do some many people give a sh*t about apple making money, they sure as hell dont seem to care about u saving any.
 
apple is turning confusive

heres what i think the mini Stikes OUT

199 should have been the price, theyd be 199 richer on my account, now theyre 249 poorer, no way no how im NOT getting one NOW. So thinks 50%+ of the people here.Strike ONE

4gb compared to 15GB is a major disappointment. for me and for the rest of us mac users... we want an ipod for music/data transfer... 4gb wont hold much data if you have 800 songs which i find normal. 15 GB ipod will. Stike TWO

Having to spend over 300 dollars to get an ipod mini to BE COOL (dock and nice earbuds) is not in a mother's mind when thinking of what to get for her 14 year old brat/ee (which is for me the target of the minis with these CoLoRs). So there Apple BIG STIKE THREE TO START 2004!

i was hoping for a change, something worthy of a 20th anniversary... a 20th anniversary present for us, the macusers.

you're out!
 
i guess it's the consumer group they are targeting. Almost NONE of my friends, who use windows, has one because they all complain about one thing--Apple hardware has been consistently expensive.

I only have one friend who bought it, the 40gig of course for a ridiculous 500 dollars. The same guy just a month or so ago sold his old PBook just b/c a newer had come out. He also has a Raid setup of with SCSI drives (the card alone was more than 200 dollars).

So one hand, i have the friend who enjoys spending over $1000 a month, and spends easily over $5000 on his audiophile equipment. On the other hand, i have friends who are in engineering schools that cannot think of spending that kind of money on a portable device.

I guess with Apple staying out of the value market completely, they will always enjoy healthy revenues and avoiding the more cut-throat value segment (but also restricting themselves to niche markets).

Obviously a cheaper iPod would have opened up more possibilities. Apple missed their chance on something big. Now one thing i absolutely hate is being force fed accessories. One user below says that we are getting quite a deal b/c it includes such and such. How if i DON'T want such and such? Think about it in a car sense. There is only one kind of car available in your price range, a Civic. Unfortunately all Civics come with a sun roof, which adds 2000 dollars to it. Unfortunately that 2000 dollars pushes the Civic's original price from 13k to 15k. Too bad, it's now out of your price range.
 
Re: NeatGekko scooped you all

Originally posted by SpamJunkie

Do you think Steve will ever learn? Cube? G4s? Mini iPods? No he won't. Apple products won't be reasonably priced until Steve Jobs leaves Apple.

To all the guys saying this 249 is too much.. This is Apple, folks !! If you can get a b*tt-ugly RCA Lyra (1.5 GB) for the same price, or a Dell DJ... please !! I also don't have 250 to throw away - but you bet I'm getting one! These are just too cool to pass up. It will nicely complement my 12" PowerBook.
 
Re: Low end MP3 Market?????

Originally posted by fcpguy
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.....

maybe "you" want to read what i said and try to comprehoend it before you run your mouth off. i said steve wanted to go after the low end cheap-o mp3 player market. any flash player IS a low end mp3 player. what i said was exactly correct. now shut up.

steve showed a graph representing the mp3 players.. he showed the rest of the market that apple does not own. he said apple wants to get into that market.

how is a 50 dollar off ipod going to do that?
 
From a consumer standpoint

I'd have loved to see a $99, or $149, or even $199 iPod. But can you imagine how much money Apple would be losing to have a $99 iPod? If there profit margin is 50% on the mini's at $250, their cost is $125, sell them at $100 and lose $25 PER UNIT!!! Cripes, stockholders would be begging them NOT to sell them.

People, this is the profit making arena, Apple isn't going to give this away, cause if they did, say goodbye to the iTunes music store, cause that's a losing proposition as well. Apple has to make money.

Maybe their engineers were stuck in the Jurassic Park Loop. They were too busy thinking whether they could make it smaller, but forgot to ask whether they SHOULD make it smaller and then sell it for $250. We'll see how well they did their research and if people are willing to pay that price.

Now, have to go read the rest of the thread and see how many other people said the exact same thing.
 
Originally posted by dbenwoods
... 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." ...

For myself and others like me, $199 for 60 songs is not the argument - never was. I never planned to spend $199 for 256MB when I can get 10 GB (old price) for $299. My problem is justifing $299 for a personal music device. The price of the mini leaves me in the same position. I will NOT spend $199 for 256 MB. I MIGHT spend $249 for 4 GB. But I'm better off spending $299 for 15 GB. What I really want is 40 GB for $499. But then I could get a new set of wheels for my mountain bike. But if I spend $500 for wheels I might as well get a new bike. ... then I could get a new house.

Anyone got a Snickers? I'm not going anywhere for a while.
 
Anybody tought about this?:

Mr. X argue that he might as well get a 15 Gig iPod. 15 Gig iPod is advertised to hold 3,700 songs. Thats 3,700 99¢ legally purchased songs. This amounts to $3,663 worth of music.

Well. I think that if mr. X can afford to purchase more than $3,500 worth of music he should'nt be so picky on the iPod mini price.

Just my 2 mini cents.
 
Re: Re: NeatGekko scooped you all

Originally posted by jettredmont
And claimed quite vehemently that it was Flash-based ... so maybe we'll let him by with just eating two fingers off his right hand ...

he actually reported that it was HD based

from his quote

"MINI IPOD FACTS

MINI IPOD FACTS:

They are going to be HD based but loaded with RAM so it won't skip.

They will ship with multiple colors.

Small...comes with an armband for runners.

NOT $100!!! Are you kidding me! isights aren't even that cheap! This is Apple we are talking about! Its gunna be good. Look for the price to drop around $250.

And now for the size: NO 2BG (weak) Apple will show off a nice 4.5 GB in multiple colors. 2 models in muli color is a nightmare. They will have the one size only.

Some of you may laugh, but this is whats coming...believe it or not. Its fact now. I will smile on the 6th when I turn out to be EXACTLY right. Who else believes me? I will smile again when I'm right and you're wrong. PEACE"
 
Originally posted by neeotronik
Apple really messed up with the 249.00 mini-pod. C'mon people; this is a monumental failure!!!!

Let's not be too hasty. We have no data for now to base this assumption on. Let's wait for the next quarter sales results before talking about the failure/succes of the iPod mini.
 
Why can't Apple just go ahead and make them $199. Wouldn't the money generated from buying songs off iTunes over the life of the player offset the money lost? No guarantee of buying songs off iTunes but it is most likely. The iPod/iTunes market share overall would surely increase.
 
Re: New iPod options not available for mini.

Originally posted by Solver
At $99 they'd lose money on each unit but could make it up in volume.

HAHAHA 🙂 That made my day. I feel so much better now.
 
Originally posted by Juventuz
The 15 gig iPod at $299 is nice, but the new 4 Gig iPod at $249 is where they dropped the ball.

I'm sorry, but I don't see the point in having a 4 gig iPod that's only $50 cheaper than a 15 gig iPod. If they wanted to cut into the Rio players and others then they should have offered it at $199.

I totally disagree. The Rio is $249, the iPodmini is $249. The iPod comes in colors, arm band, dock and is small, light and very cool.

This is for those who think $300 is too much, now we have thats a little smaller. I don't see the bitch other then those who are mad it's not cheaper. You do get a lot more for $50, that will only help boost the sales of the 15gb iPod. Big whoop, just more ipods to sell and take up the market.
 
Originally posted by srobert
Anybody tought about this?:

Mr. X argue that he might as well get a 15 Gig iPod. 15 Gig iPod is advertised to hold 3,700 songs. Thats 3,700 99¢ legally purchased songs. This amounts to $3,663 worth of music.

Well. I think that if mr. X can afford to purchase more than $3,500 worth of music he should'nt be so picky on the iPod mini price.

Just my 2 mini cents.

so i have to load up my ipod ONLY with songs i buy from the itunes music store? or can't i use the songs i already own? from my collection over 22 years?
 
Re: Re: NeatGekko scooped you all

Originally posted by svenas1
I also don't have 250 to throw away - but you bet I'm getting one! These are just too cool to pass up. It will nicely complement my 12" PowerBook.
I hate to disagree, but if you are getting one just because it is "cool." You do have $250 to throw away.
 
The price is not so bad.

Even if it was $199. Everyone would wine that that was too much, it should be $149.

blah blah blah. Don't like it Don't buy it.
 
ahahaha, yeah they are these thing out called CD's. They were real popular before all the Music Stores started popping up.
Originally posted by humangod
so i have to load up my ipod ONLY with songs i buy from the itunes music store? or can't i use the songs i already own? from my collection over 22 years?
 
Originally posted by Kid Red
I totally disagree. The Rio is $249, the iPodmini is $249. The iPod comes in colors, arm band, dock and is small, light and very cool.


No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock No dock
 
very dissappointing. i feel like they dropped the ball big time. hopefully it will bowb and they will reposition the price.

so much for the "low end".
 
Originally posted by nhradrag
The price is not so bad.

Even if it was $199. Everyone would wine that that was too much, it should be $149.

blah blah blah. Don't like it Don't buy it.

Now here's someone who did not understand why things were advedertised for 19.95 on those cheap blue tvads... because a 1 in front of whatever sells more tna a 2!
 
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