Well, one thing is for sure: it's going to be very hard to knock the Apple "king" off the hill. The iPod had made such a popular image of itself and has created a "halo" effect. The consumers (like me) have already had the iPod brand hammered into their minds with the creative advertisements, the big mother company (Apple), and the fact that so and so friend has it already and is telling you how great it is. Another side of it is that the iPod is well designed and very usable with simple and elegant lines. The iPod is also generally of very good quality. That makes several strong selling points in the iPods advantage. People still buy the iPod when there are much cheaper products on the shelf. Conclusion: Apple has conquered the mp3 player and digital music market by jumping in early (thay were the only ones there at one point) with a good product creating itself a good image, which makes competition hard, and beating that product even harder.

from the article:

Finally, Creative's Sim Wong Hoo says his company decided to "outcool" the iPod by "looking into the whole concept of Zen, [which] is something simple yet powerful." He touts the Zen Micro's curvy design, choice of colors and "mesmerizing blue glow" as examples of that. He plans to put US$100 million into marketing this year in an attempt to tell consumers that their products include more features, such as voice recording and an FM tuner, at a lower price point. Fast Company notes that Creative is second to Apple in the MP3 player market.

But interestingly, just today Creative stated that their projected $330 - 360 M sales projections were going to be more in line with $300 M - a cool 10 - 20% miss for the company who is going to spend $100 M (this year) on marketing to tell people how great the Zen is. Looks like the public isn't "buying it".

Sony says: "We believe what customers really want is choice." Uh-huh. That's why you stuck with ATRAC well beyond reason?

Dell says: "That's how we realized the importance of volume control, which has a dedicated button on the Pocket DJ. It's something people want to adjust constantly but was often buried or difficult to find on other players." Uh-huh. Like that big huge wheel on the front of the iPod? Volume control is the default mode of that wheel when something is playing.

Archos says: "I do not share the opinion that Apple's design for the iPod is any good. That's because I define great design in terms of fantastic machinery. And if you look inside the iPod's technology, it's quite common and unimpressive. It isn't anything special." How can you trust this guy to have any taste?

I think the rest of the people have some good points, though. It's definitely an interesting read.

"He goes on to tout Archos' Gmini 400, which can play video on its LCD screen and which Fast Company says has outsold the 20GB iPod in Europe."

Can anyone back this up? Does he mean total sales? Or in the month of (blank) ...? Also does this include 3G and 4G iPods. Also from what time period? 2004-2005?

I find this hard to believe since the 20GB was Apple's most popular model for a period of time, I think it is now the mini, but I want to know the entire truth about this quote.

if you think about it is the real fact that being in the market
for all to see is a great advantage taking so lighty by the
general and the captain, but not only that but also the de facto
sobriety of the thing itself

Seriously, the CEOs quoted in the article sound like a "I got my ass kicked by the iPod" support group.

They lost because they just don't get great design, and they'll continue to lose because they just don't get great design.

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Guest wrote:
if you think about it is the real fact that being in the market
for all to see is a great advantage taking so lighty by the
general and the captain, but not only that but also the de facto
sobriety of the thing itself

less gadgets in my pocket the better...good bye ipod!! I been waiting for this since last year...should had been here sooner

And how does this translate into less gadgets in your pocket? They are just hoping you will replace that iPod with one of their gadgets.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Guest wrote:
if you think about it is the real fact that being in the market
for all to see is a great advantage taking so lighty by the
general and the captain, but not only that but also the de facto
sobriety of the thing itself

Dude, no offense but get a better language translator or stick to the German-speaking (or whatever your native languag is) web site you normally frequent.

This is what Mac bots say when someone brings up valid points against Apple - we say that their English is poor.

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Guest wrote:
This is what Mac bots say when someone brings up valid points against Apple - we say that their English is poor.

honestly the english is just poor. lousy!

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Anonymous wrote:

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Guest wrote:
This is what Mac bots say when someone brings up valid points against Apple - we say that their English is poor.

Oh yeah, we read Buqtraq's Apple section ALL the time. Stupid programmers.

Okay, an 18th century author (a smart guy), wrote the treatise "the de facto sobriety of the thing" and the sea adventure "the general and the captain."

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Anonymous wrote:
England honestly is bad too bad!

iPod + Cell = 2 gadget
MP3/Cell = 1 gadget

ipod and cell = 2 gadget
Cell with built in MP3 = 1 gadbet (+watch+pda+camera)

And this precisely has what to do with alternative MP3 player manufacturers trying to compete with the iPod? Or are they all going to give up on players and produce phones? Perhaps you would like to bring in the cost of Pork bellies next.

Spy