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Apple Releases Basic iPod Touch, Possibly Foreshadowing iPhone Strategy
redletterdave writes "While the new 16 GB iPod Touch released Thursday features the same 4-inch Retina display and dual-core A5 processor as its other variants, the newest, cheapest iPod Touch lacks a rear camera and comes in just two colors black and silver. Apple is reportedly pursuing a similar strategy with the iPhone, as reports from the past several months have pointed to development of a 'low-cost iPhone' with basic features to be sold at a lower price point."
The 4th generation 8 GB iPod Touch was also $229, but did have both cameras. They weren't as high-quality as their iPhone counterparts, but still.
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This leaves only the iPhone 4 and 4S as devices Apple sell without the taller screen. If there's any hint at an upcoming product strategy, it would be that they might drop those models to streamline production.
Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
Apple's iPod lineup keeps getting stranger year after year.
First the strange design changes for the nano (went from being basically a better mini to a tiny squashed one, back to being tall, then adding a camera, then taking away the camera, and video playback adding a touchscreen and making it squashed, now making it look like a smaller iPod touch) and now the removal of one of the cameras on the touch for the same price-point as one -with- the cameras (smaller storage on the previous generation, but with flash becoming cheaper and cheaper every year that should be expected)
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Except that Apple has historically never been one to sacrifice profit/(perceptions of) quality for marketshare.
Aside from the iPod and the iPhone, Apple has never really been the most used. Certainly they have historically been in some niche applications (graphic design and publishing come to mind) but they've never been the "mainstream" computer brand. They've managed to always keep a solid enough marketshare to make sure that they get supported, but aside from the iPhone and iPod, they've historically never been number one, nor seemed to have any interest in total marketshare domination.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
The new iPod does not come in two colors, it comes in one color: silver back + black face. Also, in addition to not having the camera it also omits the wrist strap attachment.
Another way to look at this is that Apple has always historically pursued maximum profits and market share but adopted different strategies in light of the practicalities of specific markets. As an underdog in the PC market, quality was a differentiator to attract whatever market share was possible, realizing that being a dominant volume seller was not possible. As the dominant vendor in the smartphone space but with eroding market share, Apple is decreasing quality and cost to maintain market share and profit (although not margins). I think this is the more accurate portrayal of Apple, since I doubt they would be willing to blindly sacrifice profit in the name of quality or aesthetics.
Start giving back some of that money, Apple.
I know it didn't get reported on Slashdot, but still, you're kidding, right? I mean, it was big news and only happened a few weeks ago.
Apple is currently engaging in the largest single share repurchase program in history , which will put $60B USD into their investors' pockets by the end of 2015. And that's on top of the $11B/year they're paying out in dividends already.
All told, they're giving back $100B by the end of 2015, which is over 2/3 of what they have in the bank right now. So, either you were unaware of that, or you think that their doing so is not a big enough step, in which case I have to ask: what would be sufficient?
As for the gravy train being over, by what metric? Their sales certainly aren't growing at the rate that Android's are, but by any measure, they are still massively successful. Their rate of sale has continued to grow incredibly fast, and their profits in PCs and mobile devices represent either a plurality or majority in each of those markets.
Meeting all your requirements seems to be impossible (I googled) and I don't think the situation will change in the future.
If you can make compromises, it seems that the iPod Classic 160GB plays ALAC files and comes in at £199. Not sure what the dollar price is or whether ALAC is a suitable replacement for FLAC (I'm happy enough with 320kbps Spotify tunes so hardly the right person to ask).
However, the main problem is that we are at the point where the majority want converged devices and this means that, for most people, their phone doubles as a music player, a camera, and everything else.
The market for standalone music players definitely still exists, but don't expect to see much innovation there. In general, the market for these devices is one that wants to load up their MP3/AAC collection and take it with them while out exercising. People with your needs are a minority and in a saturated market, there is little point in companies developing such a device for marginal profit gains.
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But if you take away all those things - especially the touch screen - it is no longer an iPod touch and simply becomes a bigger iPod Nano. And I would make the argument that if you do remove all those features, you don't need such a big display so you could even make it the same size as the iPod Nano.
Realistically, in 2013, would you not consider a touch screen as a basic feature? It might have been advanced 6-7 years ago but these days you can pick up cheap Android devices for under £50 which all have touch screens.
WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity these days seem to come as part of the SoC which powers these devices. Same with GPS. I think it would actually turn out more expensive to maintain a separate line producing separate chips - particularly as the incremental cost of WiFi & Bluetooth isn't much.
You probably don't need Apple to convince you to buy one of their iProducts. They aren't going to give you drag & drop nor remove the iTunes requirement. I love my iPhone but I really hate iTunes so much that I subscribe to Spotify instead and only use that for music these days.
If you're happy enough with your Zen, why not look for its natural successor instead? You'll probably appreciate it much more than switching to Apple.
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The IRC actually allows you to deduct foreign taxes from the taxes you owe. The thing is, corporate taxes are much lower in other parts of the world, so what you said is practically true even though it's not actually true at all.
tbh, on an iPod the front camera is the one that gets used most. Up until the 5th gen, iPod rear cameras were far inferior to their iPhone siblings (0.92 megapixels) and basically worthless. Of all my friends and family that have iPods/iPads, none of them use the rear camera for anything (excluding rugrats taking pictures accidentally), but almost all use facetime chat heavily.
Meeting all your requirements seems to be impossible (I googled) and I don't think the situation will change in the future.
If you can make compromises, it seems that the iPod Classic 160GB plays ALAC files and comes in at £199. Not sure what the dollar price is or whether ALAC is a suitable replacement for FLAC (I'm happy enough with 320kbps Spotify tunes so hardly the right person to ask).
However, the main problem is that we are at the point where the majority want converged devices and this means that, for most people, their phone doubles as a music player, a camera, and everything else.
The market for standalone music players definitely still exists, but don't expect to see much innovation there. In general, the market for these devices is one that wants to load up their MP3/AAC collection and take it with them while out exercising. People with your needs are a minority and in a saturated market, there is little point in companies developing such a device for marginal profit gains.
I have an Ipod Classic, I convert my 16bit/44khz flac to apple's lossless format and listen to the music that way. Love it! I'd just like the higher bit & sample rate for my vinyl rips. Ya, i'm probably in the minority, but I do think they could add the 24bit/96khz easier then they can add a camera to the music players.
Be seeing you...
no matter what they do with their money they will keep losing market share if they keep making stupid decisions.
Even if they make good decisions, they'll still lose market share. Their problem isn't that they're getting stupid, it's that everyone else is getting smart.
Phones like the HTC One are beautifully made and elegantly designed. Jelly Bean is slick, comfortable and easy to use. Other manufacturers are leapfrogging a long way past Apple's current standards, and doing it at a lower cost. Look at Lenovo's latest:
The [Lenovo K900] sports a 5.5-inch display with a 1080 x 1920p resolution with a pixel density of 400ppi. Lenovo K900 is powered by the latest Intel Atom Clover Trail+ processor clocked at 2 GHz, alongside 2 GB of RAM. Furthermore, the device comes with a 13 megapixel Sony Exmor BSI rear camera and a 2 megapixel front-facing shooter.
http://www.gsmarena.com/lenovo_k900_now_available_in_china_priced_at_536-news-6062.php
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Can we please stop pretending that "market share" means "winning?" http://techpinions.com/androids-market-share-is-literally-a-joke/16709
"They paid taxes in the nations they made the money in. "
No.
Apple may have "deliberately or accidentally" misled Australians about how it sets prices here and should "correct the record or provide further detail", a Labor backbencher has demanded.
Backbencher Ed Husic, who has taken a leading role in an Australian parliamentary committee into IT pricing, said shock revelations from a US Senate committee raised concerns "the Australian inquiry has been misled, either deliberately or accidentally".
"I'd call on Apple Australia to either correct the record or provide further detail as to the way it actually prices its products for Australian consumers," Husic told the House of Representatives.
Husic said people may have "raised an eyebrow" at reports that Apple generated $6bn in revenue in Australia but "paid only $40m in tax – apparently because it racked up $5.5bn in costs", but "their eyes would've popped out" at the US revelations Apple had set up an offshore subsidiary that earned $30bn income but had apparently paid no tax to any government for five years.
And the two committee investigations were related, because Apple's complicated international structure has an impact on the prices paid for Apple products for Australians.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/28/australian-companies-forced-disclose-tax
Note that the "$5.5bn in costs" was mostly fees paid by the Australian branch to the offshore subsidiary. Basically a way to inflate prices and pump money out of the region.
Samsung and the other lower end competitors are hurting Apple. The only reason Apple would be selling dumb down versions of their products is that the competition products are hurting their sales to a point where it is better off to have cheaper and less costly products and get that money than see it being spend elsewhere.
I had one of those Zen X-FIs, too. They rocked. They *stored, transferred, and played back music files* quite nicely.
In other words, they acted the way a reasonable media player ought. My sole gripe was that they didn't play all media files and there was no way to add support for those that were lacking.
Smartphone takes care of that now, though. VLC works fine on all 3 of my Android devices, and I've yet to find a format it doesn't play, and thus I've no need for any other media player software on any of the platforms I use (Android, Linux, and occasionally Windows) or, any longer, for dedicated hardware, for that matter.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
You are joking right? $49 for a MP3 player without display, and only 2GB storage?
There are millions of new customers born every year. Every year a generation turns 8 or 12 or 15 and their parents decide to buy or are cajoled into buying personal electronics for them.
It's an ever growing market for at least another 30 years.
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
People don't buy an iPod touch to play music. They buy them to play games. It's what you get for your 10 yr old niece/nephew/son/daughter. My 2 yr old has a 2nd gen iPhone w/o a cell card, basically an iPod touch. My 4 and 6 year olds have 3rd gen iPhones the same.
It's been a great investment so far.
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
It is a false urban legend that Apple is paying no taxes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2013/may/29/apples-dirty-little-tax-secret-video Here is a great informative video from where they unusually, actually go to Cork Ireland.
They actually use a Tax loophole that allows them not to pay tax anywhere in the world. Its brilliant, what Apple do is not use a low tax island...they make the island disappear entirely. It woks because the US is concerned with where a company is Incorporated...where the Irish look where a Company is controlled...so Apple tell the US that they are Incorporated in Ireland...and tell the Irish they are controlled in the US, So Pay literally (proper use of word) NOTHING :)
So if by Urban Myth...you actually mean Fact you would have been right. The fact that you were modded informative shows a frightening trend.
Apple is currently engaging in the largest single share repurchase program in history [macrumors.com], which will put $60B USD into their investors' pockets by the end of 2015.
Apple financed the repurchase program by selling 17 billion dollars worth of short, medium and long term bonds. It was widely thought that this method was chosen, rather than repatriating cash held overseas, to avoid depletion of onshore cash reserves while at the same time further delaying the payment of income taxes on profits held overseas. It's interesting question whether or not Apple would be able to pay the bond coupons using that cash held overseas without incurring a tax liability. I presume that they wouldn't be able to, but even if they had to pay the coupons out of current after tax income the fact that a huge amount of cash remains on the balance sheet, albeit overseas and subject to tax if ever repatriated, strengthens Apple's financial situation vis-a-vis financing the share repurchase program entirely with cash.
There already is a low-cost iPhone, and it's been out for years. It's called Last Year's iPhone, and it's $100 with contract. And the iPhone from two years ago is free with contract.
It would be like the press jabbering at Samsung for a cheaper Galaxy phone, when you could get a newly built model two versions old for that cheaper price. Why reinvent the wheel...
Mod this insightful. "The media are jonesing for some Apple news": that's the only story about Apple at the moment. Samzenpus needs to go on a media studies course. And a critical thinking course wouldn't hurt either.
Blame the economy. Any Apple news brings in lots of ad revenue. No Apple news brings in little.
Face it - there's no other company on earth that can bring in the crowds Apple can.
Google? Beyond Android fanboys and a tiny amount of Android haters, most people go "meh".
Microsoft? The Microsoft haters have subsided, and most people don't really care either way.
Apple? Well let's see, every Apple article attracts Apple fanboys, Apple haters (who seem to always be a steady population ever since the company was founded), Android fanboys, Android/Google haters (small).
An Apple story brings in loads of Apple fanboys, and the crowd of Apple haters (who either hate them for legitimate reasons, or irrationally hate them) who always seem to be a constant population. The population of Google haters or Microsoft haters is far lower and they don't seem to populate those articles at much.
It's the eyeballs people. Apple stories tend to attract the most because everyone descends down on them. Or, if you wanted to troll the internet, just write an Apple (non-)story.