Here’s one of many nods to the iPod’s proclivity to lure the unsuspecting music lover to purchase a Mac:
Music To Apple’s Ears
It seems Apple Computer’s (AAPL) iPod music player may be doing what years of marketing have been unable to do: persuade PC owners to jump to the Mac. On Nov. 22, Piper Jaffray (PJC) put out a report suggesting that 700,000 or so iPod lovers either have or plan to buy a Mac in the next year, and that 1.2 million more will do so in 2006. The report, which set a target price of $100, sent Apple shares up 11%, to $61.35 — a four-year-high. But don’t look for Apple to make a serious run at Microsoft’s PC market share. Even with new buyers, Apple will still have less than 3% of the PC market, says Piper Jaffray.
I don’t like the way the writer phrased that first line, “… what years of marketing have been unable to do…” Years of marketing? Unable to do? It’s the rabid and fanatical marketing engine, manifested in tipping point user dynamics, smart market choices, and athletic reaction time to external forces coupled with those brilliant products. The iPod is a strategic piece of a far larger puzzle that just so happens to be one path to the same end.