News Archive for 06/07/19

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Apple music revenues up

07/19, 7:50pm

Apple music revenues, iPod sales up

Apple's music business posted another quarter of strong results, representing 45 percent of total company revenue. It increased 45 percent year-over-year, with iPod shipments increasing 32 percent to just over 8.1 million. Though consistent with the company's expectations, the numbers exceeded many estimates by analysts who believe that Apple would have a soft iPod quarter. The company said it ended the quarter with 4-6 of iPod channel inventory. Apple told investors that iPods comprise over 75 percent of all sales of MP3 players in the US, according to latest NPD numbers. iPod is also top selling MP3 player in many international markets, such as the Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Japan, according the latest data by NPD, GFK, and BCN.

iPod accessory market

07/19, 2:40pm

iPod accessory market booming

The iPod accessory market is booming, according to one report, despite looming predictions by analysts that Apple will reveal lower than expected sales of iPods for its September quarter. The Cupertino-based company today will report its financial results via a conference call at 5:00 p.m. EDT, which will be freely available as a webcast via QuickTime. The iPod accessory market is estimated by some to total roughly $1 billion, fueled by "necessary" products such as protective cases, as well as consumers' desire to personalize their players, according to BusinessWeek. Apple offers its own iPod accessories at its various retail locations as well as its online store, and recently experienced unusually high demand for its own as well as third party accessories, which it also sells via its online storefront.

New movie download service

07/19, 1:20pm

New movie download, DVD burning service

CinemaNow is catering to consumers looking for download-to-own movies with the ability to burn the titles onto DVDs, which could compete with Apple's iTunes Music Store if the company launches a full-length feature film offering. The service currently excludes first-run films, providing roughly 100 older movies from Walt Disney, NBC Universal, EagleVision, Lionsgate, Sony, and the Sundance Channel, according to Forbes.com. Industry observers suspect that Apple may be working with movie studios to offer full-length feature films via its iTunes Music Store, adding to its current collection of short films and TV shows. Amazon in mid-July joined Microsoft as another company rumored to be working on a movie download service, and is said to be meeting with industry executives as well as major studios, according to another report.

Taiwan iPod sales fall

07/19, 10:55am

5G iPod, Nano sales fall in Taiwan

Sales of Apple's iPod video and iPod nano in the Taiwan market have fallen to below 20,000 units per month since May of this year, according to one report. Local retail channels attribute the drop in sales to fierce competition from new MP3 players from Samsung and SanDisk. Monthly sales of iPods in the Taiwan market totaled 25,000-35,000 units during a shortage, topping out at 45,000-50,000 units, according to DigiTimes. Samsung and SanDisk have since launched their new portable media players which offer more functionality than Apple's own iPod, even as unbranded and less popular MP3 player manufacturers lowered prices during the last quarter to combat Apple's dominance in the market, ultimately resulting in decreased sales of iPods in the region.

Waterproof Shuffle case

07/19, 9:55am

Waterproof iPod shuffle case ships

H2O Audio today began shipping its H2O Audio for iPod shuffle waterproof housing, an adventure sport and outdoor recreation accessory for Apple's smallest iPod model. The H20 Audio for iPod shuffle offers waterproof and impact-resistant protection against outdoor conditions or recreational environments, enabling users to submerge the iPod up to a maximum depth of 10 feet. An easy-access control pad allows users to control the iPod within the case, while the device remains compatible with standard headphones. H20 Audio for iPod shuffle also works with H20 Audio waterproof headphones to listen to music entirely submerged, and includes an armband for $40.