Enderle spouts some incredible nonsense about Apple iPod+iTunes
Friday, July 07, 2006 - 02:31 PM EDT"I’m starting to see a number of anecdotal reports indicating the market lust for the iPod as a product, and perhaps MP3 players as a category, is starting to cool dramatically ...in competing products the new SanDisk and Samsung players are thought to be better then [sic] some of the iPods and both MTV’s Urge and Real Networks Rhapsody are increasingly favored over iTunes while Apple’s own new lines are reported to be delayed," Rob Enderle writes for Technology Pundits.
"Apple has gone back to marketing PCs and the opportunity cost of that is they aren’t doing as much marketing of iPods. Part of this drag may be because of this marketing shift and the downside for Apple’s great marketing is that when they don’t do it people aren’t motivated to buy the related products. They are getting some pick up on the PC side but it may not be enough, particularly with a new OS and new hardware on the horizon, to overcome the iPod slip," Enderle writes.
"There has also been a lot of negative news out on iPods breaking and monopolistic practices in certain geographies (like France) which has undoubtedly created some purchase drag," Enderle explains. "We expect Apple will dramatically expand their iPod accessories line to better farm their installed base. They will also have to address the problems associated with their DRM and its inability to use subscription services which, we’re sure, even they can now admit are the future of this space so they can offer one as well."
Enderle writes, "Expect a stronger tie between their PCs and iPods as they go forward, they had already tied together design elements but hadn’t yet gotten creative with integrated docking or purchase bundles."
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We're constantly amazed that this idiot can somehow make enough cash to buy groceries, pay his mortgage, and provide health care for himself and, presumably, other(s) in his family along with all the rest of the usual expenses. America is truly an amazing place; the streets are paved with gold even for absolute morons. Nothing - not a single thing - from Enderle's scribbles above is backed with even a shred of proof.
To summarize:
• Anecdotal "reports" from who-knows-where do not mean that "market lust for the iPod as a product, and perhaps MP3 players as a category, is starting to cool dramatically."
• Who exactly thinks that "the new SanDisk and Samsung players are better then [sic] some of the iPods?" What are their credentials? For whom do they work? What have they been smoking?
• "Both MTV’s Urge and Real Networks Rhapsody are increasingly favored over iTunes" by whom, exactly? Steve Ballmer? Rob Glaser?
• "Apple’s own new [iPod] lines are reported to be delayed" by precisely one analyst (Shaw Wu) on the planet. We'd like at least some reliable corroboration. The voices in Enderle's head don't count.
• "Apple has gone back to marketing PCs and [so] they aren’t doing as much marketing of iPods." Quick, somebody Google mutually exclusive!
• Apple's selling more Macs, "but it may not be enough, particularly with a new OS and new hardware on the horizon, to overcome the iPod slip." What "iPod slip?" Oh, yeah, "anecdotal reports." We forgot.
• One small batch of defective iPod screens cracking quarters ago that Apple has long ago replaced and France's toothless DRM legislation have "undoubtedly created some purchase drag?" If you define "some" as "three Parisians and one poor guy who can't figure out how to get his iPod fixed for free," then get a dictionary.
• "Apple will dramatically expand their iPod accessories line." Holy crap, Enderle might have mistakenly gotten one right! Still, no solid proof, though, of course.
• Apple "will also have to address the problems associated with their DRM?" Which would be what, that FairPlay works on both Macs and Windows PCs and 55+ million iPods, unlike Microsoft's failed DRM?
• The lack of a iTunes Music Store "subscription service" is a problem? Is that because surveys show that users prefer music ownership over subscriptions or because nobody is very successful with subscription services at all?
It's all just pure Enderlunacy, as usual.
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Related articles:
Analyst Wu: New iPods may face delays of as much as six months - June 28, 2006
Enderle: If Apple can’t double market share it will abandon Macs - May 02, 2006
Enderle: Apple as Windows OEM - April 10, 2006
Enderle: Microsoft’s ‘PlaysForSure’ going to be a long-term problem for Apple - January 09, 2006
Big surprise: Enderle was wrong about Apple's holiday quarter Mac sales - January 19, 2006
Enderle: What if Microsoft bought Apple? - April 03, 2006
Enderle: Apple+Intel could be wonderful for those of us that love design and use Windows - December 26, 2005
Enderle admits Apple's switch to Intel not hurting Mac sales, says Apple 'has never looked stronger' - December 08, 2005
Enderle: ‘Some people got really excited by the new iPod, but a growing number of people did not’ - October 19, 2005
Tech pundit Enderle: 'Microsoft wrote the first Mac OS' - September 28, 2005
Tech pundit Enderle incorrectly compares Apple’s Mac OS to iPod licensing - September 01, 2005
Enderle: 'Surveys indicate demand for Apple's products is dropping like a rock' due to Intel switch - August 01, 2005
Rob Enderle’s latest Windows Vista article is ‘vapid and incomprehensible’ - August 01, 2005
Enderle: ‘iPod Halo Effect is just a myth, same thing as having Paris Hilton visit Apple stores’ - May 02, 2005
Tech pundit Enderle: Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger’s main features ‘borrow heavily from Longhorn’ - May 02, 2005
Tech Pundit Enderle: 'This year will be more difficult for Apple Computer' and iMacs in earthquakes - January 24, 2005
Enderle: Gateway’s MP3 Photo Jukebox ‘ahead of the Apple design curve, like the iPod of the next-generation - November 08, 2004
Napster to shift focus from subscriptions to ad-based business model - March 27, 2006
EMI Music Chairman: Music subscription services like Napster and Rhapsody haven’t beeen huge - January 23, 2006
Study shows Apple iTunes Music Store pay-per-download model preferred over subscription service - April 11, 2005
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You coulda just stopped the headline after the word 'nonsense' and it would have still been meaningful.