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Creative, Apple Battle for MP3 Player Market

Posted by michael on from the gizmo-vs.-gizmo dept.

kurtz_tan writes "Creative Technology is spending 100 million in a marketing blitz to 'regain its rightful place in the audio industry' by trying to dominate the MP3 market which is now led by the Apple iPod (54% of the market last year for MP3 players that use hard disks). Creative is second with 16.5%. Does Creative Zen sound as cool as Apple iPod ?" And reader TheMediaWrangler writes "The Register reports that Apple will build a stockpile of flash-based iPods to be shipped as early as January or February of 2005. AppleInsider had the original scoop."

5 of 529 comments (clear)

  1. iPod Killer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, but is Creative's offering an iPod Killer?

  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. The NYC iPod game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh you can't count the iPods in NYC? I was visiting the city this summer and was standing outside the Trump building on Madison with a friend, playing what we called "the iPod game". We were trying to either spot people with white iPod headphones, or people geeky/trendy enough to know where the Apple Store was. We had no success finding the Apple Store (however did find another retailor, who was stocked out of the Mini I wanted to buy). It was none the less an amusing game to play; I'd estimate of 1000 people walking by: 25 people were stopped, 2 had iPods, 10 were out of towners, 5 were attractive, 2 of those were willing to chat it up, and 0 knew of, or where the Apple store was

  4. Re:iPods in New York City by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was going to agree with you, but I bet most people do. So I am going to have to disagree with you.

  5. Creative Loses Ugly MP3 Player Monopoly by meehawl · · Score: 4, Funny

    You know Creative used to have a virtual monopoly on ugly pimpified mp3 players. For years iPod fashionistas were able to hew to the purity of the white form. Endless tedious column inches were spewed in blogs and media about the flawless design purity of the iPod. They were, of course, ignoring the popularity of variously coloured covers and after-market skins for the iPod. And the iPod's slow drift into chromism...

    Then came the first rift in the iPod's White Power Ideology: the iPod Mini. Suddenly it was available in, let's face it, some pretty girly pastels and the Cult of iPod had to adapt to pay homage to this new reality.

    But now there's the U2 iPod. Black and Red. A testament to gaudy ugliness. It's like the A-Team Van was recycled with go-faster stripes. It out-blacks the iRivers and out-pimps the Creatives. Apple has definitely made a land grab for the ugly mp3 territory. Creative can no longer claim the Ugly Throne.

    Well done. I hope the iPod Flash comes in hot pink.

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    Da Blog