HP To Offer iPod mini and iPod shuffle

[rockthecasbah]

no no no..

I think it is a way to introduce iPods into the mainstream market. I guess Apple thinks that more people can relate to HP.

No, that is not the reason. Apple has a contract with HP that allows them to rebrand iPods in exchange for installing iTunes on every computer they manufacture and make it the primary media player, instead of Windows Media Player.

 

[rhpenguin]

The store I work at sells both apple iPods and HP iPods. Well....we carry both... NO ONE buys the HP iPods. They can't get AppleCare on it.

HP offers a better warranty than Apple does anyway on the iPod.. HP also offers extended service plans too.

HP's standard warranty offers 1year of phone support and 1 year of hardware support at no extra cost to the customer.

Apple offers 3 months of phone support, 6 months of free hardware support and after that you have to pay shipping to Apple plus a diagnostic fee (unless you buy applecare.).

 

[CompUSA-Guy]

So what's the difference between Apple's iPod and HP's branded iPod?

Well, first off, it's not a HP iPod, but Apple iPod+HP. Yes, it does get annoying saying that over and over, but that's the correct term for it and it makes our Apple ASC's (reps) happy.

Same iPod with HP's label on the back. HP does tech support and warranty for thier version. Mac users, though it may work on a mac, will not be able to get support for it.

You can not buy applecare on it.

Some consumers don't buy iPods because Apple makes them. They are more willing to buy something not as popular instead. Having HP brand thier own, does help add some extra sales to the mix for Apple.

Secondly, why would HP waste time and money developing thier own music player when NO ONE has come close to "killing" the iPod? Just sell what sells.

As far as Mac clones go....why? Apple currently does everything from scratch...hardware, software, to support. Cloning will lead to a decline in thier reputation, or worse a bad experience to a new switcher, because they won't have control over these matters.

My view and understanding of Apple is that they are a R&D company, not just another computer company. I think this would change thier business direction.

The only way I see this happening is that Apple will have the cloners on a very thight leash and can kill the deal anytime if they don't meet certain reqs on hardware and support.

 

[dontmatter]

now, I know that we apple fanatics have VERY little ground to stand on when talking about getting products out on time.... but how, exactly, could HP miss a release date here? I mean... oh no, we forgot to order the stickers! They aren't releasing something, the're slapping their logo on it....

weird.

And, may I ask, how will the finnancials work, here? We know it's apple's baby, the ipod, and we know it's made by some anonomous corporation in east asia, not apple or HP, so... who makes the dough?

 

[virividox]

yeah i like hps warranty!!!

 

[budugu]

My 2 cents on 1 year with apple

So what's the difference between Apple's iPod and HP's branded iPod?

You can not buy applecare on it.

Secondly, why would HP waste time and money developing thier own music player when NO ONE has come close to "killing" the iPod? Just sell what sells.

As far as Mac clones go....why? Apple currently does everything from scratch...hardware, software, to support. Cloning will lead to a decline in thier reputation, or worse a bad experience to a new switcher, because they won't have control over these matters.

My view and understanding of Apple is that they are a R&D company, not just another computer company. I think this would change thier business direction.

First -> i like the tatoos they offer ; HP care is approxmately (if not exactly) the same price. It is easier to get HP support.

Second-> HP was too busy getting rid of their CEO and people felt that it has come too far away from its stronghold (printing). If they can enter Camera business with hell a lot of competition then they can enter the music player business and might just end up selling more of them than the HP+ipod itself.

Third -> quality is generally pretty high these days anyway. Just take RAM no name kingmax ram works just as good as any other apple or crucial that is twice as costly (i have used their ram over couple of years in all denominations from 256 to 1 GB modules). So that bad experience due to quality is total crap.

Bottom line is PROFIT! apple makes a huge profit by holding all keys to all doors!

they do innovate and probably less than HP/IBM itself. they have better contracts with the industrial design team and spend more. Apple (or its maniac fans) taunts every small innovation as some thing path breaking (not that they have not shown originality!). So apple at best is a company that pays more money to industrial design houses + borrow obscure research from various places and markets them well (required for the fanatics who want some stupid "tech" names to taunt all over the place with out understanding any of it )!

Finaly why do they get away with all this (aside from fanatics), they donot have to run arround with backward compatibility! (10.1 - 2 -3 -4 - i can vouch for the fact that 50% of them will not work! and does not support the previous OS in couple of years - that is not even the avg adoption time in industry. So it will never (unless it changes this) into business.

 

[budugu]

Apple follows the in same steps of MSFT

No, that is not the reason. Apple has a contract with HP that allows them to rebrand iPods in exchange for installing iTunes on every computer they manufacture and make it the primary media player, instead of Windows Media Player.

I hate how apple is forcing me to install itunes with quicktime. when EU is asking MSFT to unbundle stuff ... why not apple unbundle their own stuff too. Anyway WMP is a video player and itunes is just audio. I doubt any one other than who buy music at iTMS use it!

 

[stephenli]

yes. Apple won.
They get pre-installation of iTunes on its huge pool of PC.
and more ppl prefer an apple logo then HP logo.
nothing to loss.

 

[sinisterdesign]

they do innovate and probably less than HP/IBM itself. they have better contracts with the industrial design team and spend more. Apple (or its maniac fans) taunts every small innovation as some thing path breaking (not that they have not shown originality!). So apple at best is a company that pays more money to industrial design houses + borrow obscure research from various places and markets them well (required for the fanatics who want some stupid "tech" names to taunt all over the place with out understanding any of it )!

Finaly why do they get away with all this (aside from fanatics), they donot have to run arround with backward compatibility! (10.1 - 2 -3 -4 - i can vouch for the fact that 50% of them will not work! and does not support the previous OS in couple of years - that is not even the avg adoption time in industry. So it will never (unless it changes this) into business.

can someone provide a translation for those last two paragraphs? i think it has something to do w/ Apple and their "it's our way or the highway" approach to the iPod?

as for the HP co-brand.....meh, whatever. it's not HURTING Apple's sales, they ARE Apple hardware. so if it's not hurting, then it can only help. who cares if it's a tiny fraction of the overall sales. that's sales that they may not have had otherwise. AND it gets iTunes on a buttload of PCs. that's no small deal. if you get a new HP, rip all your music into iTunes, which music player are you going to go buy?

more HP's w/ iTunes = less PCs w/ Windows Media Player being used = less crappy WMA files floating around = better chance of AAC as being the next defacto standard = good for all of us that love Apple

 

[0098386]

First of all, Apple is not the same company it was 5 years ago. Apple is quickly getting to the point where it will no longer needs computer sales to be profitable. That is not the case yet, but it will be soon. They are sitting on a potential gold mine with iTunes; they claim it doesn't make them a lot of profit, but don't believe that BS. The potential there is unbelievable. Job's is also eyeing the movie and video industry; expect very big things to come from this new H.264 codec. Apple is in the midst of a major transition, but Jobs is trying very hard to keep this reality from being fully known; by playing his cards tight, I believe Apple is going to make a massive move that is going to stun this industry. All of the pieces need for this are being put in place.

Apple has been slowly but surely transforming itself into a software company. Think of the profits they could make by selling OS X to the rest of the world for half the price of Windows, and iLife software, iWork, all the pro software, ect.

Why is HP rebranding Apple hardware? Are they making a profit on it? It has everyone scratching their heads, but we accept it because, hey, it's sells more iPods...it must be good. I'm telling you, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Expect much more of this and other companies too.

Does Apple want to remain at less than 5% market share? Can IBM chips alone take them higher? Industry moves are not just about products, they are also driven by timing. Apple needed to finish OS X and establish it before they could ever dream of selling it outside thier installed base. They have done that. So now what? A rebranded Mac sold by HP and others? Perhaps, but think bigger.

Everyone sees Microsoft as this huge Goliath. But little ol' Apple with it's puny David 3% market share, what can they do? OS X is the stone my friend, and Apple is about to let it fly.

That was very poetic. so well put. and it has changed my view, i do believe OS X will come out on intel hardware, i do believe something big is going to happen from Apple. Longhorns increasing delays will be Microsoft's downfall, there will be a huge gap of people wanting this new OS, but going out for PC versions of Tiger or 10.5 instead.
i think everyone knows that Linux will never destroy windows, as brilliant as it is i just cant see it happening. but OSX on intel... yep. thats so likely i probably would put money on it.

 

[0098386]

yes. Apple won.
They get pre-installation of iTunes on its huge pool of PC.
and more ppl prefer an apple logo then HP logo.
nothing to loss.

hah especially when Microsoft can longer bundle Windows Media Player with their OS.

 

[m4r71n1]

Why is apple's most successful product so successful? Well this just answers it.. its most versatile.. think about it.. more people sell it.. more money.
simple equation.
Of course this cant be done with hardware or OS's. But apple should sell iLife.. even tho im switching soon.. it looks so good.. i just want it! Why hasnt any other company come up with something so good?

I cant see why this is a bad thing.. maybe some hardcore apple-ers want to be special!... do you want apple to live? then let it contribute to others. I luv my ipod and i love its availability, i love the fact that other people have them. I think color helps make them special (a blue version would rule).. the U2 version was cool... but i actually didnt want U2 signatures at the back. And remember when apple offered free engraving.. Heyyy how about apple does wat Falcon PC does... get someone to paint (specialized) stuff on ur ipod to make it more original
they could charge for the paint job... apple should also move from the white ipod like the minis have.. the ipod isnt just black and blue (Screen).. it has colours.. the ipod should have COLORS!! okayyy

cheers,
ini