Friday, July 29, 2005
HP Stops Selling iPods, No One Notices
Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 02:30 PM
"Hewlett Packard Co. will stop reselling Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iPod digital music players in September, ending a high-profile deal that combined two of Silicon Valley's best known brands. Apple confirmed the decision Friday to end an arrangement that was announced in January 2004."
I'm not surprised to see this end, though I thought HP would have pulled the plug - the article goes on with a quote from an Apple spokesperson stating that having third parties sell iPods is not part of Apple's "digital entertainment strategy". Sounds to me like Apple is circling the wagons and preparing to take on the rest of the technology industry, who are all furiously trying to make a digital audio player that resonates with consumers as much as the iPod does. HP-branded iPods make up 5% of total iPod sales apparently, so Apple likely doesn't care much about the loss. What's your take on this?
I'm not surprised to see this end, though I thought HP would have pulled the plug - the article goes on with a quote from an Apple spokesperson stating that having third parties sell iPods is not part of Apple's "digital entertainment strategy". Sounds to me like Apple is circling the wagons and preparing to take on the rest of the technology industry, who are all furiously trying to make a digital audio player that resonates with consumers as much as the iPod does. HP-branded iPods make up 5% of total iPod sales apparently, so Apple likely doesn't care much about the loss. What's your take on this?
