Switched On: A Case of "He Said, HP Said"
posted August 31st 2005 4:00PM
With pioneer Rio being the latest casualty of the MP3 wars and Apple on the verge of announcing something next week that could be anything except a video iPod, we should not forget another digital music brand that recently left the field. It's been more than a month since HP announced its exit from the iPod market. Yet, the world still mourns. Vigils continue in the major metropolitan centers of New York, London, Paris, and Munich as everybody talks about pop music. Across a fragile planet, iPod shuffles hang low around consumers' necks like 0.78 oz. albatrosses. And rumor has it that even Steve Jobs has been seen in public wearing a black turtleneck in what many perceive as a sign of sympathy.
The music world has been hit especially hard. Elton John has written a tribute to the posthumous player to the tune of "Candle in the Wind" called "iPod on the Shelf: a Tribute to the Apple iPod by HP by Elton John." The HP iPod seemed so young, so vibrant, and so very much exactly like Apple's. How could this have happened? Perhaps those initial conversations between two Cupertino computing giants went a bit like this:
HP: �We�re really excited about the iPod and we think we can really take it in new directions by creating our own version.�
Apple: �Why, yes, we would love to have you resell the iPod exactly in its existing perfect form.�
HP: �Exactly, we could come out with new colors, new shapes, add a bit of the ol� WMA. Hey, maybe USB On-The-Go so people could print album covers directly to our printers. You know, really differentiate it.�
Apple: �That sounds splendid. We look forward to having you resell the iPod exactly in its existing perfect form.�
HP: �That is so cool. The iPod�s really going to be central to our digital entertainment strategy. We�re thinking about a slot built into our Media Center PCs that pops out the iPod like a videocassette. And then we could put a series of blue LEDs � by the way, we love blue LEDs � on the side of the iPod to indicate when transferring of new music was done.
Apple: �You know what else would be cool? You reselling the iPod exactly in its existing perfect form.�
HP: �Oh, and speaking of form, we know you�ve got the whole �cultural icon� thing going but we�re also thinking of a more �extreme� version with lots of holes in it that you can put blue LEDs in. We�re thinking of calling them �piercings.��
Apple: �OK, just for that, you can�t sell any new models until we�ve had them on the market for at least three months. Oh, and if we catch you selling one within 500 feet of an Apple Store, we�ll switch Macs to Intel and let our machines run Windows.�
HP: �Ha ha, ok, just kidding, just kidding. Look, we know we�re going to be perfect together. Like, I dunno, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston. By the way, we�re thinking of calling our radically different version the HPod � no mention of Apple whatsoever. Pretty clever, huh?�
How will HP pick up the pieces? When HP dropped the iPod, Apple noted that HP had sold about 7 percent of iPods worldwide. That sounds like a trivial amount until one realizes that most of Apple�s other competitors have suffered similar market shares. HP has proven it can come from behind; it entered the PC market late and rose to dominate retail sales. Yet, while partnering with Apple may have been the second-worst way to enter the portable digital player, re-entering at this point competing with Apple would be the worst one.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis at NPD Techworld, a division of market research and analysis provider The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On, however, are his own. Feedback is welcome at fliptheswitch@gmail.com.
Nice M reference!
Pop Muzik!
I was just reading this and wondering how many people would actually get the "pop music" reference. looks like at least one other person besides me.
guess i'm not a loser after all. well...
That hypothetical conversation was great. It highlight's Apple's hardline stance on not altering its products because of external pressure (not always a good thing) against the PC industry's try-anything-to-differentiate tactics. Great work!
Offensive considering Lady DI DIed 8 years ago today
That 7% doesn;t matter. Most of the people would have bought the ipod anyway. They just happened to get the HP one becuase thats where they were. Non-HP ipods are so easy to find that someone who is pondering the ipod, they will be able to get it
"PC industry's try-anything-to-differentiate tactics"
If that's the case, where's the differentiation? What's the difference between a run-of-the-mill HP and Dell?
There is no differentiation in the PC market. The only PC manufacturer who seems to have ever been in the same room with a designer is Sony, and their gear is more expensive than Apple's.
Actually, 7% of all iPod sales probably blows the doors off the market share of all other iPod competitors.
"There is no differentiation in the PC market. The only PC manufacturer who seems to have ever been in the same room with a designer is Sony,"
Go look at VoodooPC and tell me there is anything similar there to a Dell.
You obviously don't know anything about the PC market. There are tons of players, not just HP, Dell and Sony. They all specialize in different things.
Anyway, as for the HP iPod, I know a lot of people call it pointless (and I didn't buy one even though I could have), but it did have a much better warranty and a much better support policy (i.e. it wasn't $25 per support call after the first call).
Plus, you know, someday they'll probably be collector's items.
one other thing about the HP ipod (and I own one) is that through retail channels,a nd with discounts, you could buy the HP version at a much lower cost than apple. I got my new (at the time) 40gb ipod for about 250, using discounts and rebates from an online retailer that does NOT sell apple, at the time, the only other way to get one was to pay the 399+ apple pricing.
say what you will, but having the hpod in more retail locations could do nothing but help, at palces like costco, where it was sold, it was an impulse buy for many people... not many have access to an apple store, or just happen to be in shopping for something else, and then pick up that 'one more thing'
In Colombia like most of South America, there are no Apple Stores, but an HP is available. Si when you buy an HP Ipod you get support.
So the HP iPod is the Saab 9-2x version of the iPod. ;)
Hi Peter,
Was surfing the net and found this commentary. Nice stuff with the drama ;>
Earlier, I had a similiar version at
http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/techbuzz/audio_arsonist/0,39041384,39246738,00.htm
Do check it out. Love to hear your comments ;>
eds
Actually I am surprised that more people haven't mentioned the warranty situation. Apple offers no consumer warranties in Florida, period. Surprised? So was I when I bought my ipod, I didn't even think that Apple could be so braindead and pigheaded as that? I called them to confirm, and they said flatout, no we don't care about Florida consumers. I almost didn't buy it at all at that point, but I eventually relented. I am sure that HP offered a warranty, as I was able to purchase a presario with a 3 year warranty here. Which is what I would have done with the ipod. Mindnumbingly stupid comes to mind. Come on Apple fanatics, talk about the innovation here, huh?