As the music industry struggles with CD sales, file sharing, etc., one company has seemed to overcome all obstacles to keep its sales in the black. Who could it be?
Surprise surprise, Apple has managed to create such a successful product, it actually does a lot of the work in selling the rest of Apple’s products. I, of course, am referring to the iPod.
While the iPod is nothing new, it has gone under significant improvements and in many different directions, offering something for everyone. There is now the Classic, Nano, Video, Shuffle, and the latest addition to the family: Touch, which might as well be an iPhone. Apple’s major marketing campaign began with and is being held up by the iPod. Why? Because there’s an iPod for everyone.
With prices as low as $59 for the cheapest one, almost anyone can afford to own one. But that’s not the point I’m trying to make. iPods are making it so easy for Apple to converge all of their devices together. All of them are compatible with each other, as well as Microsoft software. iPods can even be integrated with your shoes. iPods are everywhere! Their convergence with all of Apple’s other products makes things seem so simple.
And iPods, as well as the iTunes music store, are helping convert PC users to Apple. According to Arik Hesseldahl of BusinessWeek,
Perhaps the iPod’s biggest benefit to Apple these days is in helping it sell Macintosh computers. People who use PCs with Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows operating system tend to be more likely to switch to Macs after they use one of Apple’s music players, a phenomenon that has been called the iPod Halo Effect.
So while other companies in the music business are trying to stay afloat in this tough economy, Apple can sit back and let its iPod lead the way. Thanks to convergence, Apple has made itself stand out not only for its roles as a music giant and computer empire; it has secured its safety during this recession.
