The Apple iPod mini from HP
By Peter Rojas 
posted June 2nd 2005 11:23AM
posted June 2nd 2005 11:23AM
HP is finally getting its hands on the iPod mini (just like we said they would), announcing today that they're going to start selling both the 4GB and the 6GB versions of the player beginning on Sunday. They're going to be carrying exactly the same iPod minis that Apple sells, sold for the exact same price (the only real difference will be a little HP branding on the back; we won't even get into all the philosophical stuff about whether there's a point to HP selling an identical iPod), but they are going to make new versions of their HP Printable Tattoos that are designed specifically for the Apple iPod mini from HP.
lol i dont think any comment are needed :)
I would really like to meet someone who's bought one of the HP ipods... I mean, really, what's the point?! If anything, they're second hand for the same price!!!
Quote:
"we won’t even get into all the philophical stuff about whether there’s a point to HP selling an identical iPod)"
It's not a philosophical argument, it's a marketing argument. HP has a far bigger distrubtion channel than Apple does. HP selling these makes total markeing sense because of the sheer volume of units they can sell compared to Apple. And with every single HP computer being preinstalled with iTunes it's a huge winner for iTunes, Apple & iPod.
Do you seriously think people don't know what an ipod is? This branding is going to do nothing more than confuse the consumer, "I thought apple made ipods... i thought my documents meant they were my documents how can you have my documents..." yea people are morons. The only marketing plus will be itunes on HP computers. I really don't think HP has a bigger distribution channel either, they sell cheap pcs, because A) they are cheap and 2.) they are cheap... so with HP selling at the exact same price point there can't be any advantage... OH EXCEPT IT WORKS WITH WINDOZE!!!!
I think my shoe knows more than the general PC user.
"I mean, really, what's the point?"
The point is you get a much better warranty from HP.
(Note: I have an Apple iPod. Yes, the warranty really does suck as much as everyone says.)
So you mean your shoe is smarter than 90 or whatever people of people out there?
Sorry, but Macs stink - If they were any good that 90% would have been Mac users....
Ehh I meant percent. 90 Percent.... Sigh
"I mean, really, what's the point?"
The point is Windows users are uninformed and HP knows this. They are hoping that morons will think the Apple iPod doesn't work with PCs.
They're making some nice dough on that theory too.
;)
I don't want to fan on the Mac vs. PC, iPod vs. whatever flames, but I did want to point out that the "sheer volume of units they can sell" argument is bogus.
As Apple declared in their last quarterly report, HP iPods make up less than 3% of their sales:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51786-2005Apr13.html
P.S. That's 3% of 5.3 MILLION iPods sold in one quarter.
Thats my point DM... Mike gets it. I'm not starting the perpetual Mac vs PC flamewar. I'm just saying that PC users are morons (generally) and that is the only thing that will allow HP to sell ipods. 90% use windows, I use XP-OSX- and several other *nix OS's. I'm not the average user, the fact you can hit the add your comments button means you are leaps and bounds beyond the PC user i was describing. Are you really going to buy an HP ipod? If so it would only be for the warranty. I have an original ipod and a 20 gig. Yea my battery died in the first one, but you know what? I replaced it myself with a plastic knife and a new battery. Big deal. HP is capitalizing on its loyal market of tech stunted followers, brilliant on their part, useless to the masses of this site.
"I think my shoe knows more than the general PC user."
"Sorry, but Macs stink - If they were any good that 90% would have been Mac users...."
Oh dear lord, why does every post that mentions Apple or Microsoft turn into a huge, off-topic, done-to-death flame war. Some PC users are stupid. Some Mac users are stupid. Some smart people prefer Macs, others prefer Windows or Linux. Get over yourselves.
#10 - HP had stock problems and weren't selling the mini which is the most popular model. In the first three weeks that they sold iPods, they shifted 120,000. I'd say those are pretty good numbers. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there. I'd be interested to see how much they sell in a whole quarter with no stock problems so we can get a better idea of whether this strategy works as well as it looks on paper.
"I don't want to fan on the Mac vs. PC, iPod vs. whatever flames, but I did want to point out that the "sheer volume of units they can sell" argument is bogus."
Sorry, it's not a bogus argument at all. HP only got into selling the iPod in September of '04. HP will probably sell more iPods in their first year than Apple sold in their first year. The growth rate of the iPod in general is pretty high and Apple is getting its product into market channels via HP that would be quite costly for Apple to develop.
In the end it doesn't really matter who sells more iPods, Apple or HP. Clearly for every iPod that sells, Apple wins no matter who sells it.
Its like what number 4 said, HP has more distribution than Apple does. i work for a retail store that doesnt sell Apple products because we are not an authorized apple reseller, but we are a authorized HP reseller so we can sell the HP ipods because it has the HP logo on it. The only retail outlets in that I've seen carry Apple Ipods are best buy, target, and compusa in my area on the east coast. with an HP ipod, ipods can be sold in places that don't sell apple products.
I know someone who's parents would not buy them an Apple iPod. They would only buy them the HP iPod because their dad or someone did not like Apple. He didnt know that the HP iPod was just a rebranded Apple iPod. People are morons what can I say and not buying a product from Apple just cause their Apple is stupid. I wont buy windows cause it crashes all of the time for me but I bought an xbox from MS because it works. People need to get over the whole Apple sucks MS sucks Sony sucks and just buy stuff they want because of the product's features and support.
I knew that Apple's iPods would work with both a Mac and PC, but I bought the 40Gb iPod from HP instead because of the superiour warranty. Also, the HP was slightly cheaper and the box had "HP" printed on it in large friendly letters.
Honestly, I don't know why anyone would buy an iPod from Apple if they could get the same product for the same price but with MUCH better warranty and support from HP.
Here's HP's warranty:
One-year limited hardware warranty with 24x7 toll-free technical support. 90-day limited warranty on accessories included inbox with product at time of purchase. iTunes software support provided by Apple.
And here's Apple's warranty:
Your iPod comes with single incident telephone support for the first 90 days and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod to extend your service and support to two full years. Only the AppleCare Protection Plan provides you with direct telephone support from Apple technical experts and the assurance that repairs will be handled by Apple-certified technicians using genuine Apple parts. For more information, visit Apple support or call 800-823-2775.
How is HP's warranty that much better than Apple's?
What about the shuffle?
haha, yea, most people dont know what the hell a 'MAC' is, they think that PC is the only choice, most of the people who bought a PC are the ones that either bought the decent priced PC at Walmart, who doesnt carry apple, or went to Best Buy and saw 29 PCs set up, and a Mac Mini, one of em, looks good, but since windows is what everyone else has so they dont bother with trying out a MAC, and they dont think its any competition so they check out all the PCs that they get a good deal with
it is the PC users who dont know very much, because if they were smart they would prefer the UNIXbased OS from apple which simply put, doesnt crash
Maybe HP gives better customer support than apple? Hehehe. I have experience good customer support from HP (no experience with apple). But I suppose HP will forward your comments and complaints to apple eventually.
#18 asks "How is HP's warranty that much better than Apple's?"
Well, just from reading the warrantees, one sees that with HP you get 24X7 telephone tech support for an entire year, whereas with Apple you only get "single incident telephone support for the first 90 days."
Now, normally Apple is very clear to understand, but what the hell is "single incident telephone support?" Purposely obscure I'd say...does it limit you to just one call for one issue during that 90 days? That's laughable. Also, are the operators always there, 24 X 7? Apple doesn't say, so probably not.
Basically, with Apple you have to pay for the type of support that HP gives you with the product.
Apple does make some very creative and innovative products, but they will screw your wallet any chance they get.
If phone support is the only difference in the warranties, what is everyone raving about with HP's warranty? I'd sooner call a psychic hotline than a hardware manufacturer for support - and I'd probably get better results too! Seriously, does anyone out there in this forum really use a hardware manufacturers' phone support, and even base purchasing decisions on it? I don't have time to train their support staff on the basics of using their products. Most phone support usually goes like this: "Is it plugged in? Is it turned on? Are you sure? Gee, I don't know then, try reformatting the hard drive and see if that helps." No thank you, I'll fix it myself.
The phone support is better---even if you don't like calling it. HP's extended warranty is generally cheaper, too... although they sure don't advertise pricing much.