Steve Jobs 2 - Disney,Walmart 0

Not only did Steve Jobs beat Disney (being part of the reason he is no longer CEO), Apple has beaten the all powerful Walmart as well. Apparently one of the reasons Walmart did not sell iPods was that they were not compatible with other MP3 players (and Walmarts own download service). Due to the iPod being such a hot item, Walmart now carries them. This is surprising since Walmart usually manhandles any company it sells products for.

Madonna tops Billboard, iTunes charts

Madonnas new album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard charts. More interestingly 10% of her album sales are from iTunes. On iTunes she holds three of four top album download spots and the top single download spot. So I guess this would imply that letting people buy singles vs. an album won't decrease sales if the album is good. Of course you will never hear that from the music industry.

Apple iTunes Joins Ranks of Top U.S. Music Retailers

According to the latest survey Apple's iTunes Music Store ranks in the top 10 music retailers in the US. Considering that Amazon is in the top 4 nationally, it seems that Apple should be able to offer more than Amazon.com. Its unfortunate that iTunes took so long to implement music reccomendations, it seems that Amazon.com is probably ahead in that regard.

Apple to prepay $1.25B for iPod flash memory

In order to make sure that Apple will have a sufficient supply of flash memory for upcoming iPods, Apple is prepaying 5 manufacturers for their flash supply. Previously Apple had relied on only two manufacturers for flash memory. Most likely future iPod Nanos (or resurrected iPod Mini's with more flash memory than the Nano) will require large amounts of flash memory. In preparation for this Apple is first in line to buy the memory supply of these manufacturers.

Even Smaller iPod Shuffle on it's Way

A second-generation iPod shuffle digital music player from Apple Computer will be noticeably smaller than the existing model and could see an introduction as early as January, says one Wall Street analyst. "We are hearing of an even smaller form factor (smaller than a pack of gum) and the re-introduction of multiple colors".

The article also points out interference problems Apple is having with the iPod Nano and the 5G iPod with Video. When placed in contact with a GSM phone the iPod "goes crazy" with uncontrollable volume fluctuations and other noises being created.

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Apple Planning Intel-Ready iBook Debut for January

ThinkSecret is reporting that iBooks (IntelBooks) will be announced this January. Speculation on pricing is that they will be cheaper than current iBooks by a few hundred dollars and may sell for $699. Current iBooks sell for $999 for a 12.1" screen. While the new iBooks should have 15" screens to be competitive with Windows notebooks, Apple may not include a larger screen for such a low price.

No more .99 songs on iTunes

The end of $.99 pricing at iTunes seems to be coming closer.
Or so it would seem from reading this item from the music industry. It seems unlikely given that Apple will be getting some competition for its music store in the form of the cell phone industry. Why would Apple want to raise their prices and give the cell phone industry a bigger foothold? This seems like a press release put out by the RIAA to pressure Apple. It seems they aren't happy that Jobs has given them two revenue streams (digital music and music videos) where previously none existed.

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iPod nano now does video too

Requires the install of iPod Linux Video player, but impressively the frame rate is supposedly smooth and the sound works as well.

Apple's next move...media domination?

One analyst goes crazy with theories partially based on past rumors and crazy wild guesses. Products mentioned: wireless ipod (previously rumored), terabyte iPod in 5 years (possible, depends on HD industry), iPhone (previously rumored, though I wouldn't think selling cell phone service would get Apple the 50% margins they get on their iPods), Tivo iPod (unlikely since this would kill the iTunes store model). Claims of "stiff" competition are a bit overblown, the competition is cheaper, but not marketed and not national.

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AppleInsider | First Intel Macs on track for January

Reliable sources seem to be indicating that Apple will introduce the first Intel Macs at the January MacWorld Expo. With rumors of Apple poaching Sony VAIO engineers, they look to be poised to introduce iBooks and iMacs with the i now for Intel :) New models will not introduce any new features and will most likely only be available for purchase some time after the announcement. Apple is planning to become the ultimate switched and complete its Intel transition by next fall.

Apple's iTunes contract with music industry

Think Secret has posted an inside look at the contracts that Apple has with music labels regarding iTunes. Some stipulations include:

The wholesale price of an album can never exceed the price of the songs sold individually.

Record labels can not increase the wholesale price, but Apple can increase the retail price of songs sold during the contract period.

Apple must be able to sell songs individually as well as part of an album except for limited promotions.

If iTunes is compromised and Apple does not find a solution within 30 days those affected portions of the iTunes store will be shut down.

Apple keeps records of iTunes purchases for two years and allows the record companies to audit those records once every 12 months.

New iPod nanos *include case*

New iPod nano's now shipping include a thin soft sleeve like the iPod 5G's have. This is a wise decision and obviously a response to scratch complaints from consumers. It seems that this would give the current class action lawsuit more ammunition, they will probably have to replace all the scratched iPod Nanos and provide cases.

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Pixar sells lots of shorts through iTunes

Pixar (Jobs other company) reported their financial results yesterday. He revealed that Pixar had sold 125K shorts through iTunes. He also hinted that Pixar will continue to distribute films through Disney. He stated that Disney was Pixar's first choice as distribution partner. Considering that recently Jobs had released that he would be willing to sell Pixar, there was no hint of such happening in the current press release. It would seem that Jobs would want too much for Pixar and that Disney would not pay up. Disney recently has been seen as being in a better position to negotiate with the successful release of its animated Chicken Little.

Motorola's second iTunes phones based on RAZR

iPodNN reports on the second iTunes phone, the Motorla RAZR V3i. In perhaps a nod to Steve Jobs, the casing will be brushed metal and will use the same iTunes software as the ROKR. No details were given on whether the phone will have the same 100 song limit imposed on the removeable media (TransFlash). This phone looks like it will be available to other carriers though the carrier will have say over the features of the phone (i.e. if they have their own music service planned). Cingular, based on previous remarks, might be interested in working with Apple on an iTunes store.

A tale of two iTunes

Two conflicting pieces came out regarding Apple's iTunes store. One is by Bloomberg and states that music sales were at 6.6 million downloads per week through May, but are now only 6.7 million in the last week of October. This works out to less than a million song downloads a day. Reuters on the other hand paints a quite different picture. They state that part of the reason AAPL has hit new highs is because of increasing sales of iTunes along with iPods. Apple stated that they sold 1.5 million songs per day in July (10.5 million songs per week), and estimates for September are for 1.8 million songs per day (12.6 million songs per week). This is expected to rise to 2 million songs per day during the holidays (14 million songs per week). So the question is how the music industry has lost 4 million songs.

Music wars: Apple vs. mobile music distribution

Thestreet.com has a pretty interesting overview of how the music distribution business has come to its current point. They don't mention the insane cut that music companys want as cause some problems, but its a good read. The article basically says that in 2003 the music and mobile industries decided to wait until 2006 and the arrival of high speed mobile networks before launching over the air music distribution. Because of this Apple has had the run of the field since then. By setting a low price point for music downloads, Jobs is not only fighting piracy, but also firing a shot across the bow of other forms of distribution. Apple is the value leader in terms of music downloads, who would have thought that. By pricing full song downloads at $.99 (and now hour long video downloads at $1.99) they have effectively set consumer expectations on pricing of content and will make it difficult for the mobile industry to sell song donwloads at $2.50 or higher. Studies have shown that at higher price points, consumers will wait until they reach their computer to make a purchase via iTunes instead of purchasing something over the air.

The article mentions that this situation was inevitable because the mobile operators need to recoup their investment in their high speed networks, requiring high initial pricing. The music industry has been pushing for a 60-70% cut of music sales forcing $2.5 and $3 prices onto the mobile operators. The music industry was hoping to do an end run around Apple and iTunes, but it seems like the music industry has shot themselves in the foot by being too greedy.

Engadget has pics of the next Motorola phone with iTunes. Interestingly it does not come with a standard headphone jack.

Ok so the folks over at TUAW are officially morons. Without even having seen the video at smashmyipod.com they claim its fake. They post "facts" that are clearly false if you even watch the video. The sketchiest thing is that they guy pockets $50 or so, since it sounds like he paid $360 and got some money back. Its possible that when he placed the ipod on the counter, there were two ipods there and the guy who throws it on the ground could have grabbed another ipod, but it seems highly unlikely.