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Mixing anticipation, acclaim and advancement by shrinkage, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has raised the bar on mobile music players again, this time packing its ingenuity into the 1,000-song carrying, 14-hour lasting, matchbook-sized iPod nano.
Drawing on its iPod and iTunes mobile music successes, the company managed to introduce the nano player last week on its own terms, wooing fans and industry observers alike with an iPod measuring as wide as a pencil and as long as a cigarette. Analysts indicated the only challenge for Apple now is what it can do to top its latest product release that is likely to dominate holiday wish lists.
"My initial reaction is, here you go, Apple has done it again," Yankee Group senior analyst Mike Goodman told MacNewsWorld. "It's a feat of tremendous industrial design to be able to shrink the iPod to this size, and they've maintained all the things that make the iPod good -- form, functionality, the interface -- they've taken the best of iPod and made it smaller and improved both style and substance."
Smaller is Better
Described as "100-percent iPod" by Apple, the new nano appears to be as big as Steve Jobs claims, with two models capable of storing 500 or 1,000 songs in 2 GB and 4 GB models priced at US$199 and $249, respectively.
The devices carry the same features that helped propel the iPod and iPod mini to music player market domination -- the same Click Wheel interface, small LCD screen that can display album covers and digital photos, simple Mac and PC syncing, extended battery life, and durability, thanks to its flash memory.
Jobs said the 1.5-ounce device was "the biggest revolution since the original iPod," but also conceded his company's move to replace the popular iPod Mini with its new, smaller sibling was a "bold gamble."
Yankee Group's Goodman praised Apple for pulling off the improvement in the nano, which, while much smaller and slimmer than the original and Mini iPods, retains the key elements that have made the music player the dominant device among consumers.
"The Shuffle underwhelmed me," Goodman said of another iPod product that won less praise. "It has not been a runaway hit the way the iPod, the Mini, and the way I think the nano is going to be."
Tough to Top
"Apple has raised the expectations so that any time they have a product release, our expectation is, this is going to be pretty amazing," he added. "The thing is, what do they do next?"
Goodman also contrasted the iPod nano to the recently-announced ROKR iTunes mobile phone made by Motorola (NYSE: MMI) and offered to wireless customers by Cingular. The analyst said that while Apple's nano was a significant advance in form and function, the ROKR "lacks both style and substance."
Jupiter Research Vice President Michael Gartenberg told MacNewsWorld that Apple may have benefited from the buzz around the ROKR, helping it to keep quiet the details of its new, big-little iPod player.
"The fact that they were able to keep it under wraps really heightened the drama of nano," Gartenberg said. "Once again, it puts them in the position of having a product that no one else in the market can match."
Promoting the iPod Pedigree
While its reliance on flash memory and supply issues have come up before, Gartenberg indicated that Apple's focus on manufacturing readiness for the nano -- which was timed right for holiday buyers -- may give the company an advantage, since competitors are the ones who may not be able to keep up in terms of flash memory.
Gartenberg also noted that, as Apple becomes a larger and larger target for competitors with its innovative product releases, the company continues to forge new ground in consumer electronics.
"The nano comes with an iPod pedigree in a form factor that blew away most people who saw it," he said. "Apple has shown there's a lot of life left in music devices."
