The iPod ecosystem by the numbers

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The iPod ecosystem by the numbers

The New York Times takes a look at the iPod accessory market today and provides a product breakdown and interesting dollar figures. The overall iPod add-on market is a $1 billion business, and for ever $3 spent on an iPod, at least $1 is spent on an accessory. Citing an NPD analyst, The Times says sales of iPod accessories totaled $850 million last year, not counting online sales.

The paper also claims that about 28 percent of all accessories are cases, about 30 percent of sales are for car chargers or FM transmitters and the remainder are speakers and docking stations. Retailer margins for electronic iPod products are reportedly around 25 percent, while cases offer 50 percent margins.

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Comments

1

I found this sentence amusing in a kind of unintentional way: “No one is predicting that the iPod economy will be slowing soon. Mr. [Steve] Baker [an analyst for the NPD Group, a research firm] said: ‘We’ve barely scratched the surface with the video iPod.’”

Posted by navamske on February 3, 2006 at 9:45 AM (PDT)

2

I think you could have asked any iLounger, and would have told the Times the exact same thing…........

I give it a big “Duuuuhhh”

Posted by jwc110869 in Rochester, NY on February 4, 2006 at 6:41 PM (PDT)

3

”...They must compete against Apple’s own retail outlets for sales and the gross profit margins are slim, less than 15 percent”

15 percent gross AT BEST; that IS slim. While it’s certainly not uniform across manufacturers, it’s common to find electronics going out the door at margins 25-50% gross with a typical B&M. Small wonder Apple does so well each quarter when they get to keep so much of the gross margin for themselves. The power of having a highly popular product…

Posted by flatline response on February 5, 2006 at 9:20 PM (PDT)

4

�?...They must compete against Apple’s own retail outlets for sales and the gross profit margins are slim, less than 15 percent”

I agree with everyone here when I say most other companies competing against apple for this genre, their chances are about as slim as the new Nano. Apple just knows their stuff.

Posted by Ryan on February 6, 2006 at 8:47 AM (PDT)

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