Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
HP iPod To Appear September 5?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The Red Wolf said:
woah, there wolf! let's try some decaf!
kidding, i agree. people get their panties in a wad b/c no product release EVER matches the pipe dreams we all concoct on these sites. but i'll admit, i was hoping for ONE new/different feature for the 4G to push me over the edge. the clickwheel was a great, but obvious addition. i still want one, though!
i showed extreme restraint last week when i walked into an Apple store w/ $1k cash in my pocket and held a 4G in my hand for the first time. it was like talking myself down off a ledge to walk out of the store empty-handed. i decided i'm going to have to wait for my 2G 20GB to die before plunking $$ down for a new one.
I must admit, like most other people on this forum I'm a bit bemused by this news. - I know it's 'old news' and most people would agree from a marketing point of view that it 'makes sense'. - But the question is - When do Apple ever do anything that simply 'Makes sense?'. I can't see where Apple are coming from. - They'll make more money - sure, but that can't be the only reason. If they were purely in the business to make money, they would have followed Microsoft's business model. They've never licenced their operating system or let other manufactures (HP for example) make Macintosh's (except for those brief moment of madness before Steve Jobs returned as CEO). So why iPods? And why now?
One possible side-effect to all of this is surely getting iTunes installed as standard on HPs, but also more importantly, QuickTime. The AAC encoding is dependant on QuickTime 6.5 right? I remember distinctly having to upgrade my QuickTime version before being able to take advantage of the AAC encoding in iTunes. - This smart move basically means Apple have made an agreement with HP to have QuickTime and iTunes installed as standard on a huge proportion of the PC market - without having to fork out a penny, instead making more money from the extra iPod sales! - Way to go Apple!
One possible side-effect to all of this is surely getting iTunes installed as standard on HPs, but also more importantly, QuickTime. The AAC encoding is dependant on QuickTime 6.5 right? I remember distinctly having to upgrade my QuickTime version before being able to take advantage of the AAC encoding in iTunes. - This smart move basically means Apple have made an agreement with HP to have QuickTime and iTunes installed as standard on a huge proportion of the PC market - without having to fork out a penny, instead making more money from the extra iPod sales! - Way to go Apple!
lou tsee said:
If it's all about the music store... why does apple refuse to make itms songs play on other mp3 players? If it was all about the music store, apple would give fairplay to other mp3 player manufacturers. If it was all about the ipod, apple would have invented harmony, not real. It's about both. The ipod is high profit margin. The music store is low margin, high gross. It's just that totally closed only works if you have more than 50% market share in each.
applekid said:
1. Bundled pricing. (Computer, printer, iPod for one price.)
2. HP brand loyalty. (If it's HP it must be good.)
3. The perception that if it comes from HP it will work with an HP. (A lot of people still think iPod only works with Apple.)
4. Availability through alternate channels. (If you don't live near an Apple store, CompUSA, etc., and like to see things before you buy them, this is good for you.)
dontmatter said:
Exactly. I think Apple's philosphy is that iPod/iTunes/iTMS is really one product. It reminds me of Microsoft's arguments during the antitrust trial that IE and Windows were one product. The answer to whether either of these is one product or two depends on how you frame the question. Antitrust law in complicated like that.
dontmatter said:
It's about iTunes, iTMS and the iPod combined together. Take one of those components away and it instantly loses impact and becomes a failure.
It also makes QuickTime an essential install on Windows which will play a very big part of the equation . Keep watching closely because things are going to get really interesting especially in mobile/cell phone digital media.
funny stuff
BWWWAAAAAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
That is such a ludicrous concept I can't help but laugh out loud. Not at you, porchland, just at the thought of a person who would seriously think "If it's HP it must be good". Wow. Scary.
-Joe
Porchland said:
BWWWAAAAAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
That is such a ludicrous concept I can't help but laugh out loud. Not at you, porchland, just at the thought of a person who would seriously think "If it's HP it must be good". Wow. Scary.
-Joe
AliensAreFuzzy said:
So Dell has their music store, MS is coming out with theirs. HP and Dell are the two largest PeeCee makers out there, so you would rather have #1 do their own and #2 partnering with MS? That would benefit Apple wouldn't it? They would have to battle MS/HP on one front and Dell on the other. With Apple partnering with HP, they get the #2 maker to sell their iPod and that leads to sales in iTMS which will then further show that iTMS is the dominate player in the business. This also opens a big market to Apple in partnering with HP and thus removes the second largest PeeCee maker from competing with them. Having HP as a friend is better than having them as a foe. Now HP will help Apple battle Dell, MS and the other music services. Strength in numbers; two is better than one.
Gateway doesn't have a music store, so they will probably team up with MS. So MS has to settle for smaller ones, thus less market share. If you think Dell and HP will be selling a PeeCee that has the MS software on it for the MS store, you are hallucinating. Dell doesn't want to see MS steal business away, nor does HP. That leaves MS with Gateway and the other smaller companies to sell the product and people with an existing computer. New sales though, they will see a small market share. HP and Dell account for a little over a third of the PeeCee sales worldwide, 18.2 and 15.7 respectively. IBM was third at 6.5 and Acer at 3.2. Just looking at the US, Dell has 32.7, HP has 19.2, IBM with 5.6, Apple is fourth with 3.7, followed by Gateway, which did not disclose any numbers, but is expected to be fifth. As you can see, MS is locked out of over 50% in the US, unless the user adds it. Going with how most of the users are, they don't add anything, which is how WMP and IE became the dominant force. IBM won't get involved in the music store business as they sell to a different crowd, business. That leaves less than 40% of the market that MS can access directly by having their software installed from the CD on the PeeCee when its sold. While 40% is a good number, actual users will be far lower.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/15/technology/pc_share/
g4cubed said:The good - Apple will get a bigger share of the music market, players and store. A lot of people won't touch Apple products, this is a way to get those people. Also just when Microsoft's music store is coming online.
The bad - if this does take off what sort of production problems will Apple run into. I would say that the current lag time is due to Apple stock piling the hPod for its debute.
The ugly - hp blue, damn that's a butt ugly color. But I'm sure some people will like the color.
Apple won't be stockpiling anything for HP. They leave the manufacturer and then HP has to determine where they want to put them. Apple won't take care of the logistics for HP. HP tells Apple how many they want and where to send them. Apple then tells their manufacturer. HP pays Apple who in turn pays their manufacturer. Apple gets to keep the difference between what they get paid and what they pay. I can't see Apple willing to stockpile anything. Let HP take the risk if they overestimate demand. If they want to buy three million today, let them. If they sell 250,000 a month, well, they (HP) will have to find a place to put them.
Warehouse = lost revenue and profit.
This I think is a good thing apple will make money and more people will be exposed to the iPod. We tend to think of the iPod as just another fact of life but a lot of people don't even know what it is. At my school in an upscale Florida neighborhood we have 2000 kids. I use my 30 gig in all my classes(don't worry I pass on test grades) but I would say only about one of 20 kids knows what it is despite the fact that the local electronic stores sell them. An hp pod will get the normal kids into the game and soon every one will want one because so and so has one...
rt_brained said:
Stop the madness!!!!
The rumor community has totally made this name up...it does not exist. The HP branded iPod will be called the HP Digital Music Player, not the HPod, hPod, or HiPod.
Sorry, this is just a total pet peeve of mine.
CNET says that the HPod is coming this Friday, August 27. That date actually makes a lot more sense than September 5, which is a) a Sunday, and b) the day before Labour Day.
Here it is as I see it:
5th September - HP announce HP Digital Music Player available in 10GB and 20GB capacities.
5th September - Apple announces new 60GB iPod, and unleashes the hidden features of the iPod.
Result, HP releases small capacity 4G iPods, Apple releases mega capacity iPods with extra features that even HP don't know about, and won't have in their device.
5th September - HP announce HP Digital Music Player available in 10GB and 20GB capacities.
5th September - Apple announces new 60GB iPod, and unleashes the hidden features of the iPod.
Result, HP releases small capacity 4G iPods, Apple releases mega capacity iPods with extra features that even HP don't know about, and won't have in their device.
Lanbrown said:
Good analysis.
Microsoft will succeed -- if it succeeds at all -- by using its strength in the OS (almost total dominance) and browser (almost total dominance) markets to promote its store. During the antitrust trial, the plaintiffs unconvered an email from a Microsoft exec that said the company could attach a ham sandwich to Windows if it wanted to; Microsoft has had complete success in globbing IE onto Windows.
According to betanews.com, the new MSN music store is going to be
part of Windows Media Player 10, which means the upgrade will be certainly be on Windows Update and might even be listed as a critical update if there's "security issues" involved. Certainly, Media Player 10 will be part of the shrink-wrap as some point in the near future.
Just like with the browser wars, Apple is going to have a hard time fighting for room in the PC market. Already, even before the Microsoft store is available, there's an option on the My Music folder in Windows XP to "Shop for music online," and the link has been there, as far as I know, since XP launched. It takes you to -- any guesses? -- windowsmedia.com.
But that's just the availability/ease-of-use part of the equation. In the browers wars, it was browser-vs-browser. In the music wars, Apple is going to have the huge advantage of the iPod. I've said here before and I'll say again, Microsoft's best chance to dominate the download market is to get behind an iPod killer (and not Sony's homely little device).
It's still all about the iPod.
The iSight ver2 thing -
that's the same iSight, with the new mounting hardware to go with the new aluminum displays. They're not out yet, because don't you think it would make a bit more sense to wait until the iMac is available and not have to revamp the packaging to include the right bracket for the new machine?
It's not being redesigned. It's just being remounted.
that's the same iSight, with the new mounting hardware to go with the new aluminum displays. They're not out yet, because don't you think it would make a bit more sense to wait until the iMac is available and not have to revamp the packaging to include the right bracket for the new machine?
It's not being redesigned. It's just being remounted.
Mudbug said:
I agree that Apple will benefit from the marketing power of HP and are likely to attract a slightly different style of customer, but I am confused on 2 fronts:
1. Apple still has issues with the demand of its own product.
2. Apple must surely have some pricing conditions to prevent HP from selling the HP iPod as a loss-leader add-on to their computer sales. Surely HP are a competitor in that market?