HP To Launch Online Music Store, MP3 Player (With Analysis)

December 1st, 2003 at 2:00 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin

It seems that everyone wants to follow Apple into the space that Apple says canit make money. Reuters is reporting that HP is going to be the latest me-too company in the music download business, following such runners-up as Roxio, MusicMatch, BuyMusic.com, and Dell Computer. Like Dell, HP is also going to be selling its own HP-branded MP3 player to complement its online music store. Reuters cites HP executive Peter Appl, which we point out so that you will not mistake it for a misspelling of "Apple." From Reuters:

Hewlett-Packard Co., one of several computer companies pushing into the consumer electronics market, plans to launch an HP-branded online music store in the first quarter, most likely at a January trade show, an HP executive said on Tuesday.

The music service will be run in conjunction with an existing service like Musicmatch.com and compete with music stores from Apple Computer Inc. and Dell Inc., HPShopping.com chief executive officer Peter Appl said in an interview.

Following the planned launch of the service at the Consumer Electronics Show, HP expects to unveil a digital music player, Appl said. Appl said the company had not yet decided the exact design of the product, adding that HP wants to be sure to set its digital music player apart from competitors.

You can read the full article at Yahoo!is Web site.