Slashdot Mirror
The Billion Dollar iPod Accessories Market
OleSurinam writes "The NYTimes has a story about the lucrative iPod accessories market." From the article: "Making add-ons for the iPod is a $1 billion business. Does that sound like hyperbole? Consider this. Last year, Apple sold 32 million iPods, or one every second. But for every $3 spent on an iPod, at least $1 is spent on an accessory, estimates Steve Baker, an analyst for the NPD Group, a research firm. That works out to three or four additional purchases per iPod."
... and it's totally owned by Belkin.
But I'm not complaining, I'm honestly just jealous.
Consider this. Last year, Apple sold 32 million iPods, or one every second. But for every $3 spent on an iPod, at least $1 is spent on an accessory, estimates Steve Baker, an analyst for the NPD Group, a research firm. That works out to three or four additional purchases per iPod.
So for every $3-seconds, there's an additional $1-second for accessories. That means about 10.6 million $1-seconds last year, which works out to a bit over 2,944 $1-hours, 122 $1-days, or about 17.5 $1-weeks!
That means for every iPod-year, there's an iPod-accessory-quarter!!!!
Go statistics!
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
This is exactly why I wonder why Apple has not become more of an "exclusive provider" for most of that stuff. Mind you, I like the idea of being able to buy a comparable-quality item on the cheap, but still... It's very unlike Apple to give away that kind of market share.
I'd like to know more about the lessons Steve learned from his time merchandising kids movies with Pixar and Disney, being on The Gap's board and the influence of Millard Drexler. The iPod ecosystem seems like an old-fashioned consumer goods story - accessories, add-ons, merchandising (I'm thinking of Star Wars et al), etc and having friendly, inviting stores in which to buy the goods. How far along would they be without those Apple Stores?
It seems to me the New Apple's ability to actually capitalise on a successful product is chiefly due to killer merchandising plus an expanding retailing empire. And a bit of good luck!
I'm sure this will be a case study in a business textbook one day ...
My main gripe with accessories is that they don't work with all the numerous versions of the iPod.
Take this example, I'm the happy owner of an iPod mini (which did not had a long life), but the great iTalk does not (and will probably never) work with the mini. See this Griffin iPod Compatibility chart, you'll find out the huge gap in iPod accessories compatibilities. (no I don't work for griffin, I'm just making a point here, I'm pretty sure other accessories providers have the same "problem"...)
Animoog.org
As an employee of NPD, I can say that it's not a "guesstimate". We know the exact number of iPods sold because Apple chooses to release those exact numbers. That data comes from the only company that makes iPods. Do you have any idea how many companies make iPod accessories? There's no one source to get that information from. That's what NPD does... we're the "one source" for data across the entire marketplace.
I like the circular logic of people not wanting their precious iPods to get scratched, so they buy a case that looks like a wallet, but protects their iPod from scatches, that no one will ever see since the cool design of the iPod and the non-existant scratches will never been seen! Same logic goes for ppl that buy bras for their cars.
My 20G iPod is scratched to hell, and it should be; I've used it daily for almost 2 years! My car has marks on the front, and it should: I've driven it for almost 2 years, will allot of highway driving!
Don't get me started on Grecim's men's forumla or botox treatments...
fak3r.com
I got an ipod nano before Xmas and was frightened by all the reports of scratched screens. A friend told me about InvisibleShield (www.invisibleshield.com) so I ordered one. They're a bit expensive at $19.95 but it's a one-time application. My friend even had to send his ipod video into Apple under warranty and he got a replacement and IS sent him a free replacement shield (not like plastic and postage costs that much) even though it was not their fault. It changes the feel of the ipod, it's not smooth slick like it was, but I'm quite happy that I'm not getting any more scratches.
With the flip side being, of course, that there seems to be a distinct lack of Bose SoundDocks and other cool accessories for Neuros...
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
iPod People
They sell it for 45$? That's just a fucking knob. I know knobs are cool and all, but why would you buy a knob for 45$?
It goes to 11.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
It goes to 11.
I take back what I said. I want one NOW.