iPod

The big news today is the rumor (wait, "news"... "rumor"... is that an oxymoron?) that Apple is in talks with the record companies (wait, do they make "records" anymore?) over subscription and so-called "comes with music" plans.

Chances are, like most of these rumors, any number of the details are wrong. Indeed, these rumors hardly ever come out of Apple so they must be coming out of the recording industry. That's why it sounds so much like recording industry porn. "Apple's gonna pay us $7,000 for every iPod … Read more

Just like Apple launched a video iPod after Steve Jobs dismissed the idea of a portable video device, the company is now reportedly considering new business models for selling music, including subscriptions, despite Jobs' assertion that downloads make more sense.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Apple is talking with the major labels about letting consumers pay a premium for new iPods, then receive the right to download and listen to as much music as they want for a certain time period, along with the right to keep 40 to 50 songs permanently. Negotiations are apparently underway to … Read more

iTunes is the No. 2 music retailer in the United States (behind only Wal-Mart Stores), and it passed the 4 billion download mark in February, but nobody knows how much money Apple's actually earning from the service.

In Apple's earnings reports, iTunes revenue is lumped into a category called "other music-related products and services," alongside licensing revenue from iPod peripheral makers, and the company doesn't break out expenses or operating profit by segment.

So some Billboard reporters decided to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations, using Amazon.com's expenses as a benchmark for a large-scale e-commerce … Read more

As if things weren't bad enough for flash memory companies this year, they're now even more concerned since Apple has yet to place a major order in 2008, according to a report out of Taiwan.

Digitimes hasn't always been the most reliable source, but they have gotten enough things right lately to take notice, and their report Tuesday suggesting that Apple's flash memory orders have fallen off the face of the Earth jives with other information we've seen this year. According to Digitimes' sources in the Taiwanese flash memory industry, Apple has yet to place … Read more

Recent iPhone ads have touted the utility of having the iPhone on a trip. Vacationing with the iPhone is a great convenience, but also makes it harder to vacation.

Using the quasi-GPS and Google Maps, being able to make dinner reservations, forsaking tour guidebooks and printed itineraries it great. On a recent long weekend to Hawaii, my friends and I discovered and confirmed the utility of the iPhone features on the road. So much so, we didn't even bring our laptops, which is a big deal for some of us. Really, it is. The only physical complaint I had … Read more

ZDNet's Larry Dignan provides a great counterpoint to the recent "angst" over Apple.

Despite the year to date stock chart (right) Apple's business isn't exactly limping along. Sure you can worry about the iPhone not selling 10 million units, or iPod profit margins and even whether the MacBook Air is that big of a deal. But what's the point? Until proven otherwise most of us would love to have Apple's business.

The Macalope has given Dignan a hard time in the past, but this piece is eminently reasonable, raising the issues and providing … Read more

Forrester Research published a report on the music industry earlier this week entitled "The End of the Music Industry As We Know It," and it offers some conclusions that shouldn't surprise anybody who's been following the music industry for the last few years: as users have shifted their behavior to computer-based digital music, the recording and technology industries have not made it easy enough to discover, share, and buy new music in new media and formats. Hence, the rise of all-digital sales will be too little, too late, to compensate for the fall in CD sales, … Read more

Correction, February 22: This story misidentified how much iSuppli expects Apple to spend on flash memory this year. The company doesn't yet have a revised estimate for how much Apple expects to spend, and won't until more information becomes available.

Apple is reportedly cutting its flash memory orders for the year, in another sign it's worried about the economy.

iSuppli reported Wednesday that Apple has started informing its flash memory suppliers that it's planning to use less flash memory in 2008. Apple's still planning to purchase 27 percent more flash memory this year than last … Read more

Apple does not appear to be very bullish about its business in the first quarter, according to a financial analyst.

Craig Berger of FBR Research tracks chip companies like Broadcom and Marvell that supply chips for Apple's iPods and iPhones, among other things. AppleInsider spotted a report issued by Berger saying that Apple is reducing the number of iPods, iPhones, and Macbooks it plans to build in the first quarter.

Consumer electronics and PC companies know the first quarter is always a downer compared with the fourth quarter, which is chock full of holiday shopping goodness. Berger is saying, … Read more