"Every business man will ask while waking up how I can be the monopolist in my business field?" Bob Young from the world one-up Linux manufacturer Red Hat. For Apple, however, it has ever been the victim of the excessive desire: his Mac system is respected deeply because of its prominent design, but is abandoned because of being not compatible with other systems.
This time, Apple seems still insist on doing things in his own way. He refuses to qualify those companies who will put the iPod compatibility into their own products: to use the digital qualified sofwares; meanwhile, in order to compete with those super powerful opponents like Microsoft, Apple will do everything on iPod.
In Jan 2005, in the MacWorld annual meeting in LA, Apple pushed out the portable iPod, iPod shuffle whose target customers are those people who cannot afford expensive products. iPod Shuffle costs only $99 which is $150 lower than other iPod products. In the new iPod Shuffle, it is certain that Apple adopts the easy and simple style. The player is smaller than a pack of chewing gum and the scrolls for screen and browsing songs are gone.
More than this, Apple also pushed out iPod Photo which can save music and photos. It also has some functions that customers can play the digital music at home or in their cars; meanwhile, Apple also expands its retail network that it is to open retail stores in the shopping centers. The first retail store in Europe is on the Zhengshe Street is in London.
Except those common competitive methods, the stiff Apple seems get a little changed, Apple unexpectedly not only sells iPod to its competitor HP, but also releases recently that it is probable to be compatible with other savings forms or equipments; although It still has no concrete plan now; besides, Apple points that iPod can play the common MP3 songs.
However, nobody knows how long this effort can keep Apple leading in the world. Within three years when iPod was pushed out, so far there still has not been any clue that what Apple would do keeps himself leading. "Other companies will have a good command of the digital music technology like Apple, and then Apple will not be unique."Michael Gartenberg said, an analyst in the inspection company Jupiter Media. According to Michael, one day the music websites of the competitors will catch up with Apple on the range of products, the competitors' manufacturer also will invent suddenly a new and cool hardware design. At that time, Apple should make a hard decision between these two: Either do they open its system or they keep the leading way of Brand, which might make Apple kicked out.
Phil Leigh, an analyst in the researching company Inside Digital Media shows the same opinions as Michael that Apple should open its system so that the third part software developer will extend the usage of iPod. Obviously, however, this strategic is totally consistent with its previous style. Although the market quarto of Macintosh is smaller or smaller, Apple is still strict to its softwares.
However, many analysts in the Wall Street still believe that iPod might have "Aperture Effect"to the Mac business. Those consumers who buy iPod in the shops might buy Apple computer. Because, first, the sales of iPod is 1/4 of the total sales amount in Apple; second, the Mac computer which is just 3% of the world PC market pushed out Mac Mini in 2005 which costs only $500. This is the first low-priced Mac computer since this company was founded 30 years ago. Its price is even $300 lower than the current cheapest Mac computer.
Some analysts in the Wall Street believe that this cheap Mac computer can convince more consumers who used to use Windows to the hug of Mac, because something has changed: Windows is easily attached by computer virus or other internet virus which makes consumers reconsider Mac who has no such disadvantages as Windows. In addition, low price can also push the demand of consumers.
Jobs speaks publicly in a speech, "We hope this price gives those people who consider to change their computers an excuse. "Charlie Wolf, the analyst in Needham Co., agrees with Jobs, "Mac Mini in Apple allayed the balk of price."Some analysts think, however, that the new Mac products in Apple cannot weaken the position of Microsoft in the PC market. Once the rate of the Mac computer in the PC market gets a little increased, it will bring Apple big profits. Jobs who is aware this clearly pushed out a new software called iWorks based on MacWorld in order to compete with the Microsoft Office software based on Mac.
Perhaps, Apple has never been aware this time that iPod would be the next Mac or maybe the savior of Mac, but more flexible.
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