Apple to Sell 37 Million iPods by end of 2005?

I really hope they don't introduce multitier pricing. Knowing my luck, all the music I want will be more expensive :) Also, if they increase the price of albums it will be cheaper to buy the actual cd from stores like Amazon.

And woo, first reply.

According to that article, digital download sales have plateaued and are still a small percentage of total music sales. As a result, music industry leaders are still pushing for a multitier pricing to boost income.

Yes, that will probably increase sales, making songs more expensive..

That's a cumulative total not 2005 only numbers, though still an impressive figure.

The quote to me sounds like they expect Apple to have sold a total of 37 million by the end of 2005, not 37 million in 2005, which is sort of what the article makes it sound like. That would mean 19 million sold in 2005 to meet that mark. Still optimistic, but not impossible,

either you didn't quote the pertinent parts of the report, or the report simply expects accrued sales to reach 37M by the end of 05. The quote you included in your report supports only that conclusion, and not your idea that it's reporting sales in the year. Can you clarify your report?
thanks
terry

19 million sales seems possible, but not likely, to me, with the iPod shuffle and such.
-Chuc

I may be missing something. What is the logic in boosting prices? More iPods are sold, music sales are flat. How does multi-tiered pricing, meaning higher prices on "popular" music, boost online sales? I would expect the higher prices to reduce demand online, boosting it at traditional media. Wouldn't the labels be better served by extending the scheme for one year and seeing whether there is a trickle-down from iPod to music sales?

I did go to wal mart and compare the 14.99 for a CD vs. the 9.99 itunes. If price had been the same, I would have opted for physical media. Wouldn't this result in lower income for the labels? I'm sure that I could find a good post in the myriad of threads here that would present a rational economic argument. But, that would take a long time. Any economists want to save me the time and explain it here?

And a final question. If Apple doesn't budge, and the labels don't budge, does that mean the iTMS becomes a video store. And do the labels really think they could win a PR battle?

99 cents is the magic number. Don't change it.

And I agree, it sounds like the quote means that a total of 37 million iPods will have been sold by the end of the year since 2001, not just in 2005 alone.

99 cents is the magic number. Don't change it.

Right, if they want to have multi-tiered pricing why not introduce $0.79 songs?

They could naturally introduce lossless songs for $1.49, although part of that extra 50c would be eaten up by two to three times higher streaming costs.

I may be missing something. What is the logic in boosting prices? More iPods are sold, music sales are flat. How does multi-tiered pricing, meaning higher prices on "popular" music, boost online sales?

I did go to wal mart and compare the 14.99 for a CD vs. the 9.99 itunes. If price had been the same, I would have opted for physical media. Any economists want to save me the time and explain it here?

You are assuming most people will buy a full album, while I personally prefer to hear music the way the artist intended it, most people like to "cherry pick" the hits which means that the labels get only a couple of bucks out of a typical albums songs. I think tiering may be beneficial as long as complete albums don't go above $10.00