Is Apple Trying to Take Over iPod Accessories?

An anonymous reader writes "With more and more iPod accessories being released by Apple all the time many users are speculating that Apple is trying to shoulder the after-market iPod companies aside. However, at least one user doesn't see it that way, and thinks that Apple's move may actually help the after-market companies. From the article: 'Even if it wanted to, Apple knows that it couldn't simply make the iPod accessory market participants magically go away. If Apple did try to steal their lunch, all it would succeed in doing would be to drive those companies straight into the arms of the iPod's competitors, most of whom are desperate to see any kind of an accessory market form around their players. And that's the last thing Apple wants to have happen.'"

Comments

brand strength

[paulthomas]

To your average iPod buyer, no amount of accessories will make another player as attractive as the iPod.

Re:brand strength

[tpgp]

To your average iPod buyer, no amount of accessories will make another player as attractive as the iPod.

Nope. Choose either:

To your average apple fanboy no amount of accessories will make another player as attractive as the iPod

or

To your average mp3 buyer, no amount of explanation will make them understand the difference between another player and an iPod

You see - to your average joe, an mp3 player is an ipod - they no more understand the difference between an ipod and *generic mp3player* then they do the difference between kleenex and tissues.

The average public is not as discerning as you think it is.

Re:brand strength

[yurnotsoeviltwin]

You may be right that the average public may not be able to tell you that *generic mp3 player* has *generic non-iPod feature (voice recorder, radio, etc.)* but they WILL be able to tell you that it isn't either as good looking or as trendy as the iPod. That's why Apple sells so many of those things, because they know what the average consumer really cares about, and it isn't techie features.

Re:brand strength

[tpgp]

Then I must ask why then is Apple selling the hell out of iPods when the average joe doesn't know the difference and could easily buy a generic mp3 player at Wal-Mart?

1) Because walmart sells ipods.

2) Average joe walks into CE shop & asks for an 'ipod' meaning 'generic mp3 player' - what do you think he's going to get?

3) Advertising. To average joe, a brand you've heard of is better then any other brand.

Re:brand strength

[rhesuspieces00]

To your average iPod buyer, no amount of accessories will make another player as attractive as the iPod.

Do you have any basis for this statement at all?

Customer walks into store.

Man: "Hi, I would like to buy an MP3 player, a protective case, a dock with build in speakers, and an adapter to use it with my car stereo."

Sales rep: "Do you see that wall over there? Those are iPod accessories. You can get cases ranging from $10 to $500 in plastic, silicon, or leather in any of 800 million colors from companies ranging from Nike to Gucci. There are suitable speaker systems and car adapters from a plethora of manufacturers in virtually any price range."

Customer: "What if I don't want an iPod."

Rep: "Oh, hmm... Well, in that case you could buy this Rio and keep it in a sock, and if you're handy with a soldering iron, maybe you could hack one of the iPod accessories to fulfill your other needs."

Re:brand strength

[hey!]

Well, in that case you could buy this Rio and keep it in a sock, and if you're handy with a soldering iron,

And that, my friend, is Apple's secret in a nutshell. What you need to go through to get your whole music buying and playing experience to match the iTunes Store/iTunes/iPod combo function for function doesn't strike the average person as all that different from soldering connectors and milling cases. After I bought a mp3 player, which as an player is pretty good, I tried out their software and it was pain and misery from the get-go. Hell, I'd rather solder and machine my own accessory adapters than try to get their software to work, because lacking the source code I could.

omgwtfbbq

[Soviet Assassin]

OK, so apple created the ipod, they can create accessories if they want

If other companies are too slow to release new ipod accessories and apple beats them to it, well thats just too freakin bad for those other companies now isnt it?

Dont blame apple for keeping on top of the game, blame those smaller companies for slacking.

Re:omgwtfbbq

[Mr. Underbridge]

OK, so apple created the ipod, they can create accessories if they want If other companies are too slow to release new ipod accessories and apple beats them to it, well thats just too freakin bad for those other companies now isnt it?

Um, not when they have a near monopoly. Let's change that to "MS created Windows, they can create the programs for it if they want."

Still agree with that statement? Didn't think so. And I'm not sure where you're going wieh the speed argument. Apple isn't "beating" anyone, in fact they're trying to artificially restrict the marketplace.

Re:omgwtfbbq

[noisyfont]

Sure, but this overlooks a simple fact: since the ipod shuffle, apple has started releasing ipod accessories at the same time as the ipod itself. In other words, this isn't a levelled field where competition push towards better products with faster release. Apple could certainly take advantage as the designer of the ipod to drive other cie's out of the ipod accessories business. They could try to change the ipod specifications to rapidly for third parties to keep up, while their products would always word flawlessly. They could also introduce some incompatibilty so third parties' products don't function properly anymore, etc. This of course would be illegal (and would piss many people off), but they could certainly drive third parties' out of business before being having their hand slapped by the court. That is the problem with proprietary formats, you depend on the 'owner' generosity. As soon as you are making 'too much money', the 'owner' will come back and eat your lunch. At which point there is little you can do to compete but fill a lawsuit... which won't get you very far, at least in the short run.

Re:omgwtfbbq

[coolgeek]

Which one of your specified solutions is battery powered with a subwoofer, AND encased in resin so the subwoofer doesn't rattle the case? Exactly none.

Uh... Yea!

[Anonymous Coward]

What kind of stupid question is that? Of course they want to own the market that sells $1 leather sleeves for $30-$100! Why should some Chinese company profit with $100 iHomes when Apple can profit with $150 iHomes.

Why wouldn't they want a piece of the action?

[w.p.richardson]

Incredibly overpriced stuff = maximal profits!

Believe it or not, a company exists to make money. With the cachet of the Apple brand already driving the sales of the ipod, why not increase the booty a bit by getting in on the extras?

Re:Why wouldn't they want a piece of the action?

[Fahrenheit 450]

The people who are buying ipods are trendy hipsters.

Except when they're not...

• Sometimes they're people who use Apples as their primary computer (or at least their primary computer for storing/playing mp3s[1]). I've yet to see an mp3 player other than iPod who's interface with the Mac could be described as much beyond "pathetic".[2]
• Sometimes they're people who reviewed their needs and found an iPod was the best fit for them. A good example of this would be me. I found that a Shuffle suited my needs better than any other player on the market at the time. Now, it may be a Nano, or something different -- then it wasn't.
• Sometime's they're people who think mp3 player=iPod -- they aren't even aware (or are only barely aware) that other companies make mp3 players. A good example of this would be my mother -- of course she called me before buying one and I sent her my old MuVo that was lying on the shelf collecting dust. Of course, she doesn't use that player anyway, as the human interface pretty much sucks for someone who is not overly familiar with their computer. She would actually be much better served by picking up an iPod which integrates seamlessly with iTunes. Note. This is a potentially huge group -- likely far larger than the "trendy hipster" demographic.
• Sometimes they're people who find the interface on the iPod to be much better than that of the competition. E.g. navigation on my MuVo pretty much sucked ass (though it was better than the shuffle in some regards). And they find that to be much more important to them than the features that the iPod doesn't have. And of course there is a huge class of people who don't want all those other features -- believe it or not most of the world could care less about things like gapless playback, ogg support, or voice memos.
• And as always, there are the brand jockeys and trendy hipsters. But these people exist for every product, and pretty much every brand...

But hey, I get that it's easier to toss off a dismissive generalization than it is to actually think about something.

[1] I use mp3 throughout to refer to a whole swath of digital audio formats, as I'm too lazy to type everything out.
[2] Of course I stopped looking after buying my player last year. Thing may have changed, but I doubt it...

Not quite

[Red Flayer]

"If Apple did try to steal their lunch, all it would succeed in doing would be to drive those companies straight into the arms of the iPod's competitors, most of whom are desperate to see any kind of an accessory market form around their players. "

I think the summary has it backwards. The accessory market won't develop unless the product has good marketshare already. If Apple drives the iPod accessory companies to make accessories for the iPod's competitors, it will in effect drive them out of business.

Look at it this way: if there was good profit to be made making accessories for other music players, there would be companies meeting that demand already.

Re:This seems appropriate

[pomo monster]

And that's exactly why the iPod accessories market has nothing to worry about from Apple. Move along.

Slashdot

[LightningBolt!]

Apples for Nerds. Stuff that apples.

For crying out loud, I'm as much of a fan of Apple as anyone. OK, not anyone, but I do like my Powerbook quite a bit. But really, the ratio of Apple to non-Apple news on /. has become extremely high. I mean, where's the news about how Dell tries to sell accessories? It's not news, and neither is this.

Apple also opens doors for accessory makers

[synergy3000]

By dropping the dock and now dropping power cords Apple has allowed accesory makers to step in and make better docks and power cords for use with the pod.

Re:I'm getting deja vu

[taskforce]

Seriously though, you can say all you like "Apple are helping to encourage the budgeoning iPod accessory market," but it doesn't make basic economics of Supply and Demand obselete; Apple are increasing the supply into the market and have a very capable commercial position from which to hawk their products, along with the brand recognition.

Plenty of room

[tgibbs]

Apple is going to aim for the high end, high margin end of the accessories market, just as they have with everything else they sell. There will be plenty of room for 3rd party manufacturers of bargain-priced accessories, as well as premium-priced accessories targeted toward "niche" markets that are too small for Apple to bother with.

Articles like this...

[Pleb'a.nz]

... prove people think too much about things.

Article is right for the wrong reasons

[Fatal0E]

Anyone remember when Apple jacked their licensing fees for port access late last year and pissed off manufacturers? Just in case you dont: http://www.macnn.com/articles/05/10/11/made.for.ip od.licensing/

I haven't read anything that spoke towards manufacturers backing out b/c the licensing hike tho but I suppose economic theory implies some products getting squeezed out.

Is apple trying to squeeze out the market by marketing first-party schwag and jacking its fees?

I think a more compelling argument might be that they're just trying to squeeze every dime out of the ipod as corporately possible before the ipod loses its buzz. Between that and the fact that the silly boom box is yawn inducing (as opposed to being the killer accessory for the killer app) I'm not sold on apple's upcoming knick-knack dominance.

Re:I don't like iPods, BUT...

[Belial6]

The ipod is designed to not allow replacement. Yes, this can be circumvented, just as you can refill inkjet cartridges. This does not change the fact that the product was specifically designed to fail, and that many people will be unable to replace their battery. I consider the fact that I would have to 'hack' my equipment to replace the battery to be an intentionally created design flaw. Not the size of the battery, but the fact that there is no battery door. In fact the very link you gave has 'Professional Installation Services' for battery replacement. This shows that the design is flawed. Consumers should not require professional help to change the battery on their portable audio player.

To state that this design choice is not an issue at all, show a distinct fanboy attitude. You may feel that it wouldn't stop YOU from buying one, but it is certainly a problem for a very large portion of the population.