Apple's new mini ipods

[jimbo_mac]

4Gb ipod mini - $249
15Gb ipod - $299
I wonder which genius came up with those prices.
ooh look, aren't those pretty colours.

Is Apple taking the p*ss or what?.

[pleeker]

Yeah, I'm not at all impressed with the Big Announcement today. $249 is not low enough for the common man. Apple has never gone after the common man market with their computers, and now with the iPod Mini, they can't seem to get there even when they appear to be trying. $149 would've been a better number, even for a smaller song capacity and other downgrades....

[atadams]

They needed to get to a lower price point to shake some hesistant buyers loose. Although, looking at competitor's products (e.g. the NOMAD MuVoČ 4GB retails for $300), it's not overpriced for what you are getting.

They should have started with a price point, say $150.00, and built the best product they could for that price. $250 is way too close to $300 for the 15gb iPod.

[andy_boyd]

The iPod mini's are alright, but for very little extra you can get an iPod with much more storage. I think that Apple are going to turn the iPod into a range of products like the way they did with the Powerbook, start of with a mid-ranged product then introduce smaller and bigger versions. Jobs was even calling the iPod mini an addition to the iPod family, they seem to be going down this track in order to solidify marketshare.

You all see that Apple and HP have announced a strategic alliance where Apple produce HP branded iPods? HP will also have iTunes pre-installed on every HP / Compaq computer. Not a bad move at all, it's probably a more significant announcement than anything from Tuesday.

What do you think, will the alliance help Apple?

[pleeker]

What do you think, will the alliance help Apple?

I think it's a great coup for Apple, and further endorsement that no one is doing digital music better than Apple. It should be a major boost -- when was the last time, if ever, that a PC maker supported and co-branded an Apple product?

As long as the HP line is priced somewhat comparatively to the originals, I can't see how it would hurt Apple in any way.