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Holiday iPod Sales May Have Beaten Expectations

Hitwise has issued a report stating that the market share of visits to Apple's iTunes website was up 413% on Christmas Day 2006 when compared to Christmas Day 2005. Hitwise attributes the spike to new iPod owners flocking to download iTunes.

Indeed, the spike seems to have caused a slowdown of the iTunes store and error messages for some on Monday. However, analysts who spoke to CNN still believe the experience will be positive for Apple.

"It's actually created more positive buzz among analysts -- traffic was so great it blew up the site," said Gene Munster, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray. "If anything it could be a positive -- demand was better than they were expecting."

[...]

"What you're seeing is the tremendous success of the iPod," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director with JupiterResearch. "No doubt it was a very, very popular gift, and no matter how well you plan on the server side of the equation, there are always times when you get caught short."


Apple topped Amazon.com's bestseller list for MP3 players, and Hitwise indicates that Apple continued to perform favorably against increased competition, beating Microsoft's Zune.net by 30 to 1 in site visits.

Top Rated Comments

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67 months ago
talk about "i've got some good news and some bad news" apple's stock is certainly getting some schizophrenic news over the past week. i don't know about anyone else, but if it reaches $75 before MWSF i'm stocking up.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
67 months ago
iPods will soon unite to take over the planet!

(And Homer will laugh at the cat falling down the stairs...:D )
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67 months ago
Does all the xmas iPods mean poor sales for an iPhone?
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
67 months ago
I thought iTunes came on a CD with every iPod?

Fishes,
narco.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
67 months ago

Does all the xmas iPods mean poor sales for an iPhone?


an Apple based cell phone really won't compete with the full line of iPods even if it is an MP3 player too. (oh and not to nit-pick, but Apple can't and won't use the name iPhone for any cell phone they release since its an actual product made by Cisco systems)
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
67 months ago
It's been so amazing these past few years to see the presence that Apple has built for itself out of the success of the iPod. My Dad got a new shuffle for Christmas, and quite a few of my friends got iPods; what surprises me most is the number of people who are expressing interest in getting their first ever Macintosh computer. People who I never dreamed would buy a mac (and attacked me all these past few years for having one) are now becoming genuinely interested. :eek:
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
67 months ago

I thought iTunes came on a CD with every iPod?

iTunes software: Yes
iTunes store music & videos: No

No sign of a free album sampler this year?

B
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67 months ago

I thought iTunes came on a CD with every iPod?

Fishes,
narco.


It doesn't anymore... since the last update I think. At least not in the nano: doesn't fit into the box.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
67 months ago

I thought iTunes came on a CD with every iPod?

Fishes,
narco.


they used to, but now Apple's slimmed down the packaging and you have to download from the web (at least for shuffles and nanos)
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
67 months ago

they used to, but now Apple's slimmed down the packaging and you have to download from the web (at least for shuffles and nanos)


Duh! I realized my mistake thinking about the new packaging.

B
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives

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