Gimme a break: iPod marketshare "14%"?

I use a Cingular Treo 650 with a third-party MP3/AAC player (Aeroplayer). It works quite well, though nowhere near the seamless integration of my 5G 30G iPod. However, if I'm listening to music and a call comes in, it will pause my music for the call duration. The earbuds I use have a discrete in-line microphone, and people can hear me quite well.

The fact that I always take my cell phone with me means I always have a few albums worth of quality music to enjoy when I'm in the mood for it. I do enjoy quiet more often than not, so I don't need my entire library with me at all times.

I also use my Treo for GPS using a bluetooth GPS receiver and TomTom Navigator 5 software.

And I grew quite attache to PalmOS PDA functionality. The killer feature for me is the system-wide Find function. It's like having Google available for my brain wherever I am, since I keep so many notes and items of interest in my Treo.

I just with the devices were as slim as an iPod and had an Apple-designed interface. But those apparently aren't deal-breakers for me since I keep using it.

The author of the article claims that the iPod market share is dwarfed by the market share of MP3-enabled musicphones. What he obviously does not realize is that the two products do not even exist in the same market segment. A cell phone is purchased with a service plan from a carrier such as Verizon or Cingular, which touts the features of whatever phones they sell. An iPod comes with no such paid subscription, therefore the buying market is completely unique. Second, a cell phone is a communication device no matter how you look at it. Today, few cell phone models are available that actually have full MP3 functionality, and those that do tend to emulate it poorly due to a clunky interface or low memory/chip speed. The only reason there are 48mm of them out there is that EVERYONE HAS A CELL PHONE. So, in perspective, 48mm of the 200mm cell phone subscription market gives musicphones a market share of about 25%.

Now, the article does 'hint' that the two devices (MP3 players and Cell phones) could realistically overlap in functionality to the point where one could have a fully functional iPod in their cell phone, and Apple is on top of this. When questioned about the prospect of an Apple iPhone in an interview posted on TUAW, an Apple exec stated, "we haven't been sitting around doing nothing," and Jobs himself has pointed out that someday the cell phone market may capture iPod share. However, today the effect is negligible since the MP3 functionality of cell phones is so rarely used and it is poorly implemented to boot.

In short: iPod != Cell Phone
iPod = MP3 player
Cell phone = communication device
MP3 market != communication device market

I'm here in the Ukraine on business. I see a vast majority of people using cell phones and to a lesser extent other flash based mp3 players. The reason is cost. most people would love to have an iPod. They flock to mine like a golden cow. When an 30GB iPod costs $500 here and the average monthly wage is less than that it is obvious that it is out of reach for most. If you are only going to buy one consumer electronic device a year it makes sense to buy a cell phone since most are heavily subsidized by the carriers and you need a cell phone anyway here because it is the only reliable form of communications.

If 30-second MP3 ringtones count as music, then yes, I definitely use my phone to listen to music. Sucks because every time I want to listen to Pete Townsend, I have to get my mother to call.

I have iPods, and then I have the SLVR iTunes phone with 100 of my favorite songs + some additional MP3s... but I still listen to music almost exclusively on my iPod. And I use only my Digital Elph to snap pictures (well the SLVR's resolution is a deal breaker, but you get the point)... Only certain things make so much sense when combined, that they actually create a market killer.
Cellphone + PDA (not Treos... just cellphone + core pda functionality like meeting reminders & address book), now that's genius. I dont really use the phone to mark events in my calendar... but it's nice that it reminds me about the meetings, which is what i was really using my pda for. And well, it killed the PDA market.

Music phones will kill the MP3 player, when they create a battery that lets you play music for 15 hours on top of a 12 hour talk time + 7 day standby time for the phone. Until then, integrating stuff is just for your secondary usage (but usage that's realllly appreciated). Like games on phone. You play them only when you are in the Loo, but it makes the time spent in the stall, a lot more exciting (my Tetris marathon score is currently at 47000). It didnt kill the gameboy or the psp. The PSP committed suicide :)

On #18 & #19 "onomatopoeia"... somebody got smacked back with a spelling bee championship round word! Anyway, I actually thought you used Nnno as a play on the word Nano. like, ... iPod? Nono.

My new car plays MP3 CD's from the factory head unit. And yes, that is exactly why I chose this model. Every time I wish to listen to music, I go and sit in my car. I'll also idle the engine so as not to drain the battery. The current cost of gasoline thus making this the most expensive MP3 player. Ever. I win!

Ian:

Thanks. Its really sad when people don't bother to read the source material before spouting off.

That out of the way, I've probably *thrown away* more iPods than most of the people posting here have ever even owned. The last two generations of the thing are terrible. Just terrible.

When I'm out, I have my phone with me. Always. I'm not a huge fan of this notion of Be-All-Ãœber portable devices (ugh) but, well, I've found the original Walkman phone (I haven't got a newer one that uses Duo Pro) to honestly be just enough music when I'm on-the-go.

Most people *have* a lot of music, but usually only listen to the "best" stuff. I mean even on a transcontinental flight your not gonna have the time to listen to 100 songs, let alone 15,000 :)

I submit that there ain't *that many* good songs to be heard, anyway.

Now granted, putting a phone with like 128MB of flash that plays mp3s in "iPod" territority is one hell of a stretch, but certainly a phone that can hold a good 10 albums worth of music can be fairly considered a music player.

Most cars only have a *6 CD Changer* in them.

So I guess count me in with the "nutjobs" or whatever who hae an iPod for every occasion, but uses a phone for tunes on the go, and my Mac when I'm at home or the office.

-K

Paul Thurott's a longtime Microsoft apoligist; in a few weeks when (if?) the Zune launches, we'll see a new column praising Microsoft for its brilliant acumen in launching a DAP (which isn't a music phone) and conveniently this week's column will be all but forgotten. Don't give the guy the ad views.

I thought the same thing when I read the article, since I have a Razr that *can* play music, but Verizon cripples it to make file transfer a pay-per process, and their music service is slow and expensive.

On the other hand, if I had a really great phone that could play music reliably, I suppose it would be nice to pare down the number of devices I have to round up every morning. Since my Razr can sync with iCal/Address Book, I don't bother much with my Palm anymore...

Im a Juior in High School and theres give or take about 1200 kids, most of them (about 900) walking around with white earbud headphones, you'll also see a familiar rectangle bump in their pocket, the iPod Mini being the most popular, then the Video. I've seen maybe five or six kids use a SLVR but its not the same, people hear iPod, and you know what it is, "I'm listening to a Sliver!" "Ok?". Besides the fact that cellphones are banned in most High Schools anyway, iPods remain dominant.