

Sony Walkman Outsells IPod in Japan for First Time in 4 Years  - rams
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ansrP2IonbRA

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swernli
So they fully admit that the iPhone "cannibalized iPod sales" but then said
that they "didn't count the iPhone because the product is also a wireless
handset." So all this is saying is that among mp3 devices sold that weren't
also phones in the week of Aug 23 - 30, Sony had 43% and Apple had 42.1%, with
no mention of what the +/- error was in the survey. While this might be an
indication of a trend, it is also very likely to be statistically
insignificant. But that doesn't make as interesting a news story.

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profquail
Something I just thought about...I wonder why Apple/Sony/Microsoft/et al
haven't tried the "console strategy" with music players. (The "console
strategy" is where gaming console makers sell their hardware at an
artificially low price, then make up the cost from software sales).

For example, Apple could tie an iPod to an account so that _all_ songs are
$1.29 on the iTunes store (instead of varying prices), then sell the iPods for
very cheap. I think it would get more people hooked on the cheap up-front
price, which would eventually be recouped from the music/video/software sales.

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mikeryan
Also Apple/AT&T does basically take this approach with the iphone. Cheap phone
if you sign up for service.

BTW this is more traditionally called the Razor blade (or Razor and Blade)
model (cheap razor, expensive blades)

[http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/razor-
razorblademodel.as...](http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/razor-
razorblademodel.asp)

~~~
QE2
Also known as the "printer-ink" model.

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onedognight
I wonder if they included the iphone in their "ipod" numbers? Even if the
iphone doesn't completely replace an ipod it will as flash sizes increase.

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jcl
The article says they intentionally did not count the iPhone in the iPod
numbers.

