Apple to Ship New iPod Shuffle on Friday

Another iPod model -- the shuffle -- is ready to ship from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) later this week. The company had intended to release it in October, but the November 3 street date gives Apple plenty of time to turn the heads of holiday shoppers.

At just half a cubic inch in volume, the new portable audio player is about half the size of the original iPod and weighs a mere half an ounce. Featuring an aluminum design and a clip for wearing it on the hip, the US$79 product has 1 GB of flash memory and can hold up to 240 songs.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs offered Mac fans a sneak peak at the iPod shuffle, along with new models of the nano and video iPod, in September.

"The new iPod shuffle completes our all-new lineup of iPods for this holiday season and beyond, and we hope it's going to be a huge hit," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of worldwide iPod product marketing .

Biting Microsoft

This quarter should be more competitive for MP3 player sales , what with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) entering the market, according to Joswiak.

Microsoft's Zune MP3 player, set to hit store shelves on November 14, is a 30 GB digital media player priced at $249.99. This so-called "iPod killer" will launch with the Zune Marketplace music service in a bold attempt to compete head-to-head with iTunes. Zuners can buy a monthly subscription for $14.99, providing access to millions of songs. Apple sells individual songs for 99 cents.

Numbers Don't Lie

Apple has the clear market advantage, though, with a brand that is synonymous with MP3 players. UBS predicted that Apple might sell as many as 15.6 million iPods in the fourth quarter of 2006. That would beat the company's record of 14 million sold during the 2005 holiday shopping season.

"I believe that Apple will have very favorable results in the fourth quarter on both the Mac side and the iPod side. Apple has developed momentum and this should be an historic quarter for the company," Tim Deal, senior analyst with Pike & Fischer, told MacNewsWorld.

Beyond its low price, the iPod shuffle is popular for its ability to play a continuous mix of the listener's favorite songs. They can hear their songs in a random order or simply flip a switch to play them in order, such as when listening to a new album.

For its part, Microsoft's player offers Zune-to-Zune wireless sharing of music, pictures and home recordings, and a built-in FM transmitter. It will also come preloaded with songs, music videos and film shorts, and other content.

Singing Louder

With Zune Marketplace adding yet another subscription model to the market, "it's important for Apple to continue to add valuable content to the iTunes Music Store," Deal commented -- and that is exactly what Apple is doing.

Apple on Wednesday announced a deal with Telemundo and mun2 to offer Spanish-language television programing and bilingual shows in its iTunes Store. The addition of Telemundo marks iTunes' first Hispanic TV acquisition among a collection of over 250 TV shows from over 40 networks.

In effort to further tap the growing Hispanic market, Apple also launched iTunes Latino, a dedicated area in the iTunes Store that features top Latin music, music videos, television shows, audiobooks and podcasts.

Continuing its multicultural initiative, Apple announced last week the addition of the BMG Japan catalog, which makes top Japanese and international artists available in the iTunes Music Store in Japan.