iPod 1
iPod is a Classic
As a college student, I knew the importance of having a good reliable mp3 player with me at all times. Music is an essential part of everyone’s life. The usual way of taking music with us used to be CD players and cassette players. With the introduction of the mp3 player, there was a new way of carrying music with you. Apple Inc. created the iPod, which has been one of the most advertised mp3 players that are out. They created the iPod with attractive colors and accessories. With such a high demand for this product, the company was able to grow the product and create other products such as the different memory sizes, iPod shuffle, and iPod mini. All of these different iPod items were a member of the iPod family that evolved into something else the customers may have needed. This product has had a good life, and is still around. Needless to say, this products life cycle has not ended yet, but other company’s have followed what has made this product successful for their own products. The Apple Inc. company has managed each stage of the life cycle for this product well, and will continue to do so.
In the introduction stage of the iPod there was the iPod Classic. The iPod classic was a hard drive based iPod. This product was marketed by Apple Inc and it was launched in October of 2001. This product was marketed to young adults and youths. Apple mainly focused on the iPod interface and ease of use to capture people’s attentions. Its interface was sleek and customizable, which is something that most youths enjoy in an electronic product. It was easy to use because people could transfer music using iTunes, which was already popular music player on people’s computers. For people that did not yet have iTunes, there were alternatives that could be used as well such as Windows Media Player. For Apple Inc, this helped the sales or iPods and made the world aware of iTunes at the same time. This combination was the start of a great product line.
In the growth stage, the iPod took off fairly fast. Because this product was easy to use and has a sleek design, it became a hit amongst the youth and young adults. The iPod became a household name and caught on around schools everywhere. Eventually no matter where you went a majority of the students had some form of iPod. This gave room to Apple Inc. to create other versions of the iPod, and to update the classic iPod. One of the things that were attractive as well was the price. Although the prices varied, there was something available for everyone. There were different memory sizes such as the 5GB hard drive that held about 1,000 songs. All these things gave room for even more growth with the iPod.
In the maturity stage there a many things that can be discussed about the iPod. The iPod has been a great hit up to now in 2008. Because of the success of the product and its sales, there have been different models and family that have been created from the classic iPod. Those items are the iPod Nano, iPod Photo, iPod Mini, iPod Shuffle, iPhone. Apple Inc is doing very well with their “I-products”. One of the latest items that have taken off in sales is the iPhone. Because of the success of the classic iPod, other products were created and have taken off as well. There are accessories that come with these products to enhance them as well. One of the current commercials that they use to advertize the iPhone is one where they show how easy, and yet revolutionary, the iPhone is compared to other phones out there. Right now the iPhone is only on one network, but if they were available on other networks the sales would be even better. The success of all of these products has made the last stage near non existent.
The decline stage is a small one of the Apple Inc company. Although there are some items that may be among this stage, such as the iPod mini or iPod Photo, there are other products such as the iPhone and iPod shuffle that are still flourishing and doing extremely well. According to Wikipedia, “As of 2008[update], the product line-up includes the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the video-capable iPod Nano, the screenless iPod Shuffle and the iPhone. Former products include the compact iPod Mini and the spin-off iPod Photo (since reintegrated into the main iPod Classic line).” (Wikipedia) Since one day this company will be going through this stage more than it is now, the only recommendation would be to not quit and stay innovated. The one thing that has kept them afloat has been that all of their products are innovative. As long as they stay with that the decline stage will not last long and new products will emerge. From Apple Inc. Overall, I agree with everything that Apple Inc has done. They have taken each step and capitalized on it very well. As long as they stay ahead of the competition and stay innovative, they will do well.
References
iPod (2006).wiki. Retrieved December 21, 2008 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod