But the value of the device was cemented by its seamless integration with the iTunes music management software. It boasted an intuitive interface design and was, for its time, lightweight. The first-generation iPod for Macintosh retailed at $399, had 5GB of capacity, and could store up to 1,000 songs. And, in October 2001, when Apple announced the iPod, those pieces were finally in place: Both MP3s and broadband were widely available. He understood that, for the device to have value, other co-innovators in the MP3 player ecosystem first needed to be aligned. Steve Jobs knew that, on its own, the MP3 player was useless. It finally made its move, putting the last two pieces in place to create a winning innovation: an attractive, simple device supported by smart software. How can we understand the iPod's victory, despite its delayed entry?Īpple waited, and then waited some more. But the iPod, launched in late 2001-three years after MPMan-was anything but a first mover. The MP3 player market did eventually consolidate around one product: Apple's iPod. Without the widespread availability of MP3s and broadband, the value proposition couldn't come together. It didn't matter that MPMan was first-it wouldn't have mattered if it was sixth, 23rd, or 42nd. Downloading an album-legally or not-could be a multihour affair. You couldn't buy them in traditional retail settings. The story was very different for MP3s than it had been for the Walkman and cassettes. By the launch of the iPod in 2001, about 50 portable MP3 players were available in the U.S.-and no firm had achieved anything near the dominance that the Walkman had enjoyed 20 years earlier. It sold 50,000 units globally the first year. In 1998, South Korea's Saehan Information Systems created the first portable digital audio player, called MPMan. Which MP3 player would get there first and become the next Walkman? But electronics firms worldwide were betting that the CD would soon follow the cassette to extinction. In the late 1990s, when the sun had set on cassettes as the preferred music-delivery format in favor of compact discs and, for the technologically savvy, digital MP3 files. ( Read more: Why Some Innovative Gadgets Never Catch On) (46% in Japan) in a space teeming with competition, even with a price premium of about $20 over rivals' offers. For a decade after its launch, the Walkman retained a 50% market share in the U.S.
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