Act three in the iPod nano screen drama
Ah, so Apple is now saying that some iPod nanos have problems with their screen - but this scratching thing, nahhh, there’s really nobody with that.
My take on this is at The Register - Apple coughs to iPod nano screen flaws.
Was it Plato or Socrates who said that dramatic structure followed three acts: (1) chase someone up a tree (2) throw sticks at him (3) get him down ?
Anyway, this seems to have moved pretty quickly to Act 3. Unless we somehow get Act 4 of the three-act play. After all, if Douglas Adams can write a four (or was it five?) part trilogy…
Interesting comment by Ian, who’s tried to put some numbers on it. But - a million in a month, sure, Ian, except the nano was announced on September 7 and only got into shops in any volume three days later. I make that not quite 18 days, which implies double the failure rate of 1 in 1,000.
- These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
- Got an iPod nano? Got a scratch on the screen? Of course you have (23 September 2005; score: 108.43%)
- iPod nano scratch story deepens.. (sorry) (27 September 2005; score: 98.97%)
- Walt Mossberg's nano is scratched. Steve ain't gonna like that. (7 October 2005; score: 88.92%)
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September 29th, 2005 at 8:37 am
Charles
Well, the mini was responsible for more than 50% of iPods sold. The nano has been flying off the shelves - I already know at least 4 nano owners (yet strangely I know of only one mini owner). There is always great demand in the first few weeks, and I think by and large, Apple was ready with the volume. So I maintain my estimate that they will have shipped over 1m nanos by the end of September (actually I originally said first month, but I’ll be more adventurous). OK, so it was not quite end of month when this problem reached climax. But it’s also true that there were 500 reported problems or so - my 1,000 was an extrapolation to allow for those less vocal!
So, I’ll stick by my >1m estimate (we’ll find out at apple financials in a few weeks?). Whether it’s 0.1% or 0.2% though isn’t really important (unless you’re in that 0.1%). Yet, this has been publicised as “a barrage” etc which is really not consistent with such definitions.
As for scratches, we either have to believe Apple on it’s claims of identical material and put it down to either black showing the issues or of bad handling (my Nokia phone was awful after a few hours in various pockets). And, try this for a $4 solution to scratches on any iPod.
You know, this WAS a news story, and you were right to bring it to the attention it deserved, but it has then been jumped upon by the mainstream press and blown up out of all proportion through typical bad reporting (and the conspiracists might argue some helping hands from desperate competitors?). Apple have fessed up, and there is no longer a story unless a) there are many, many more faults than the 0.1% reported, or b) they lied about the composition of the material used.
Perhaps the press should be focussing more on how a record label executive is able to get away with a statement about the labels collectively decapitating the iTMS, which sounds to me like a classic case of a cartel (anyone surprised)?
September 29th, 2005 at 9:18 am
Ars Technica suggested that perhaps scratches were more visible on the black nanos, because they were black.
Anyone got a white nano that’s scratched more than a regular iPod?
October 4th, 2005 at 11:00 am
Charles
Still don’t believe they’ll have shipped 1m nanos in September?
According to this story:
UBS say 10m iPods (of all types) in Q4. At 50% iPod nano share that’s 5m = 1.6m/month
Citigroup says 10m iPod nanos in 2005. Over 4 months, that’s 2.5m/month.
Care to up the stakes?
(at these levels, iPod sales must now be exceeding sales of all but the most popular mobile phone models?)
October 4th, 2005 at 11:00 am
Charles
Still don’t believe they’ll have shipped 1m nanos in September?
According to this story:
UBS say 10m iPods (of all types) in Q4. At 50% iPod nano share that’s 5m = 1.6m/month
Citigroup says 10m iPod nanos in 2005. Over 4 months, that’s 2.5m/month.
Care to up the stakes?
(at these levels, iPod sales must now be exceeding sales of all but the most popular mobile phone models?)
October 12th, 2005 at 7:19 am
From an Apple Insider report of the Apple Financial Report (haven’t validated it myself yet, but will)
Apple shipped over 1 million nanos in the 17 days that were left in the quarter after the player was announced.
As the screen-cracking issue seems to have gone away (but not necessarily the scratching), then the 0.1% figure seems perhaps to have been a fair one?