Reply #174: iPod has 31% market share (of MP3 players) [View All]

[Atlant]

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5095625.html

Apple cracks open the iPod, slightly
By Ina Fried
CNET News.com
October 23, 2003, 10:56 AM PT

The iPod, which turned two years old this month, spent its first months focused on doing one thing--playing music. Apple added other features, such as address and calendar information, the ability to store notes and a couple of games. Now, the computer maker is starting to let other companies join the act.

While stopping short of opening up the iPod's operating system or freely offering a developer's kit, the Mac maker has quietly been working with a number of other companies to boost the number of add-ons that attach to the iconic white player.

"There's things that we've done to help other people bring the iPod into other markets and other uses," Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller said last week.

Expanding the iPod's capabilities is likely to please buyers and help solidify Apple's commanding lead of the portable MP3 market. The company has sold 1.4 million iPods--nearly half of those in the last 6 months--making the device the leading MP3 player on the market, with 31 percent market share for July and August, according to market studies cited by Apple.

The iPod also has been critical to Apple's bottom line, helping the company beat analysts' expectations for the past two quarters.

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