SolveYourProblem eLearning Series
iPods & MP3 Players

Apple vs Sony: Who's Got Momentum?
by my-tech-guide.com

More and more Chinese resellers are switching from Apple iPod to Sony-labeled digital music players for iPod is drug in the market due to its high price.

In contrast to Apple iPod's high price, Sony lately cut down prices of its MP3 NW-HD5 and flash-memory MP3 NW-E505 for about CNY 100, after that, the MP3 players were selling like hot cakes in China. Sony MP3 leaves more profits to resellers and distributors, so it is more profitable for us to sell it rather than Apple iPod.

Sony announced on September 8, 2005 in Tokyo six newest digital music players just few hours after Apple unveiled the iPod Nano.

The six players included two models of 20G hard disk players, aiming directly at the mass storage iPod. A1000 is 6G 1-inch micro-hard disk version, targeting at iPod Mini, and A608, 607, 605 are respectively 2G, 1G, and 512M versions, competing with iPod Shuffle.

An executive from Sony discloses that the company hopes the latest flagship products will have a sale of 4.5 million sets this year. The number seems to be not worth mention compared with iPod's year sale of 6 million sets, but it is five times Sony's MP3 sales last year.

To revitalize its domination in the digital music player market for China, Sony officially established the Creative Center in Shanghai on August 8, 2005. The center is specialized in research and development of personalized products tailored to the pacific needs of Chinese consumers.

Some industry analysts, however, point out that it is still so hard for any brands to shake up the solid position of Apple iPod in China in the short term, even though sales of iPod are running into a periodical recession.

Last year Sony shifted gears in China by taking the country as its localized research center and one of its target markets globally. For a long time, Sony has been regarding China merely as its manufacturing base, losing sight of the fact that China has become the biggest and most lucrative electronic and information product market around the world.

During the past years, Sony has been losing ground in China while its rivals have been playing catch up by attaching more attentions to the information technology industry of China.

Even its music, motion picture, television, computer entertainment, and online businesses make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world, Sony has been leaving China out of consideration with rich resources in its pockets globally.

Though its music and video entertainment sector is spreading by leaps and bounds, the consumer electronics segment is holding a small fracture of the market.

The brand of Sony was very popular in China, but its sales in this country could not hold a candle to its rivals. When the chips were down, the company decided to turn over a new leaf in this country.

# # # # #

SolveYourProblem.com : 2007

> Home > iPod & MP3 Player Articles: Main Page