Neil Hughes
With the iPad mini now joining the iPhone and iPad 2 in Apple's sub-$400 product lineup, the company is expected to reduce its investment in the iPod touch going forward.
Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, an analyst with a strong track record in relation to Apple's future plans, said in a research note this week that the iPod touch "has entered the final stage of its product life cycle." The latest version, released this month for a starting price of $299, has a larger 4-inch display, but sales are still expected to be significantly affected by the iPhone, which can be had for free with a new two-year contract, and the new $329 iPad mini.
Sales growth of the iPod touch is therefore expected to be limited, even in spite of the major redesign issued by Apple. As a result, Kuo believes that Apple will not invest significantly in developing future models.
Apple announced at its iPad mini unveiling on Tuesday that its new iPod touch and iPod nano collectively sold 3 million units in their first month of availability. The iPod has become a diminishing aspect of Apple's overall business, as the iPhone and iPad have taken center stage.
Even if Apple does focus less on the iPod touch, it's not likely that the company would discontinue the product in the near future. Apple routinely boasts during its quarterly earnings reports that the iPod touch accounts for more than half of all iPods the company sells.
And the $249 hard-drive-based iPod classic, which offers 160 gigabytes of storage, continues to live on in Apple's product lineup, despite the fact that it has not been updated in years.
In April of this year, Kuo predicted that Apple would discontinue its 17-inch MacBook Pro. Only months later, in June, that prediction proved accurate, as the 17-inch MacBook Pro was removed from Apple's notebook lineup.
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75 Comments
So how are all these 12 year olds affording $70 a month for an iPhone, anyway? The iPod touch still has a huge market, and always will.
So how are all these 12 year olds affording $70 a month for an iPhone, anyway? The iPod touch still has a huge market, and always will.
Exactly. Simply because some products have similar price points does not mean they serve the same roles. Clearly the iPad Mini & iPod Touch serve different purposes.
What does that really even mean? What "investment" is required for the iPod Touch? All they have to do (and more or less all they've ever done) is put N-1 generation iPhone components into the N generation iPod Touch. How hard is that? And why would they ever stop doing that? It seems like a great way to make a little bit more money off of the iPhone investments that they've already made. A big chunk of the fixed costs in something like the A6 is in the development. The more units you can spread that fixed cost across the better, so why not always put A(n-1) in the iPod Touch? The only sense I can make of this statement is that perhaps the physical design won't change for a long time. But I don't see that as a very big deal.
So how are all these 12 year olds affording $70 a month for an iPhone, anyway?
Mom and Dad.
The iPod touch still has a huge market, and always will.
I agree about present., not as sure about "always will."
It's possible that iPod touch will get cannibalized, but not likely from from iPad mini. The iPod touch and iPad mini are different animals.
Cannibalization from from iPhone is more realistic. But it can also come from the bottom: iPod nano. As iPod nano gains more functionality (and it wouldn't have to be a lot of functionality) iPod touch loses it's appeal...then iPad mini becomes a potential cannibal for iPod touch.