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It really is a Catch-22 situation for them. In much the same way, the iPod can only play music that has been downloaded from iTunes. What happens when the iTunes faces intense competition from other music download software companies in the near future? Are we saying that the iPod would only have limited access to music and perhaps, not the entire range of music that other companies would be able to offer? These are areas that the parent company has to look into and take a serious note of. Interestingly, in July 2004, Real Networks introduced a new music download software that allowed iPod users to download from their site. This had totally confused the Apple technical team, as they never planned for such an eventuality. Today, they are looking at whether they can take legal action against them. Whichever way it pans out, these were the first signs of competition, which were beginning to creep in.

(Murphy, Victoria, Forbes; 9/6/2004, Vol. 174 Issue 4, p54)

iPod accessories – a new industry

Since 2002, the iPod has come a long way both as a product as well as brand. Apple has been able to provide consumers with a highly developed product that makes it user friendly and trendy. The first few iPods had basic functionality and storage capacity of up to 5GB. In time, both storage as well as functionality of the iPod has been greatly enhanced. For instance, towards the end of October 2004, just prior to the Christmas season, Apple launched two new models – the iPod Photo and the U2 iPod. The new U2 iPod was a smart and branded iPod that carried the U2 engraving on the back casing. It was black in colour with a redial.

For its launch, the CEO Steve Jobs ensured that in conjunction with the media release, U2 performed its song ‘Vertigo’ at the event in addition to other high profile performers and fanfare. On the other hand, the new iPod Photo was to incorporate a storage capacity of up to60GB. In addition to the storage for photos, it also has 20GB storage for music downloads and is available in a different version with a 40GBstorage capacity. In addition, this month also saw the introduction of the Music Store across the European Union in countries such as Greece, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Finland, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. At this stage, iTunes represented 72 per cent of all music downloads whilst the iPod industry was pegged at 65 per cent of the total portable music industry.

(Banerjee, Scott, The New Apple Crop, Billboard; 11/6/2004, Vol. 116 Issue 45, p8)

At the very beginning, the researcher was under the impression that the growth of iPod has a bearing on its parent company – Apple. Whilst thesis certainly true, it is important to understand that the growth of iPod has been revolutionary to the extent that it has in fact, impacted the business community that has been associated with it as well as companies that might have similar business interests. With reference to this subject, Levine, Robert (2004) discusses how the iPod had triggered off a business need for peripherals. It has become an industry of its own – the iPod peripheral industry. The accessory market is thriving on the sales growth of the iPod and companie本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。