Apple Officially Confirms That Target Will Sell iPods, Display Units In All 1,148 Stores

by , 3:00 PM EST, October 30th, 2002

The news broke last week that Apple will be selling iPods through Target, and Apple officially confirmed that news today in the form of a press release. Apple says it will be selling the 10 GB iPod for Mac and Windows at all 1,148 Target stores, offering the company its most wide-spread exposure in the retail market to-date. The company also says that iPods will be on display in all of those stores, as well. In related news, News.com is reporting today that Apple will also be selling iPods through Dell (see our full coverage for information and analysis). From Apple:

Apple® today announced that iPod™, Apple's wildly popular portable digital music player, will be available at all Target stores nationwide starting this week. All 1,148 Target stores will offer the 10GB iPod for Mac® and Windows.

"We're thrilled that Target will significantly expand the availability of Apple's award-winning iPod to even more customers," said Tim Cook, Apple's executive vice president of Worldwide Sales and Operations. "Apple has placed an operable iPod on display in each of Target's 1,148 stores, so every Target customer can use and listen to an iPod before they buy."

Available in both Mac® and Windows versions, iPod holds up to 4,000 songs and is the only portable digital music player with Auto-sync, an innovative feature that automatically downloads an entire digital music library into an iPod and keeps it up-to-date whenever the iPod is plugged in.

For Mac users, iPod includes iTunes™ 3, Apple's award-winning digital music software.* For Windows users, the iPod works seamlessly with MUSICMATCH Jukebox, the number-one selling music software for PCs.

All iPod models include earbud headphones, Apple iPod Power Adapter and FireWire cable. 10GB and 20GB iPod models include carrying case and wired remote; optional remote and carrying case are available for 5GB iPod models. iPod for Windows also includes a 4-pin-to-6-pin FireWire adapter. iPod for Mac includes iTunes 3; iPod for Windows includes MUSICMATCH Jukebox software.

iPod for Mac requires Mac® OS X version 10.1 or Mac OS 9.2, iTunes 2.0.4 and a Macintosh® with built-in FireWire port. iPod for Windows requires a PC with built-in FireWire or a Windows-certified FireWire card and Windows Me, Windows 2000 or Windows XP Home or Professional.

*Some iPod features require a Mac and iTunes 3.

You can find more information on the iPod at Apple's Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

We've already said that this is a huge development for Apple. Target offers Apple exposure to people who may never step foot in an Apple Store, Best Buy, CompUSA, or other electronics retailer. As surprising as this may be, there are even lots of people who don't hang out at Apple's online Apple Store. Retail partnerships like this, and the one with Dell, will help Apple turn the iPod into a major revenue generator, completely independent of the Mac or the Mac platform. While it may be a tad scary for some to see Apple's livelihood not depend on the computer platform that most of us love, anything that makes Apple a healthier company is a Good Thing™.

Apple