AfterDawn: News

Gates believes iPod dominance days are numbered

Bill Gates believes that the dominance of Apple's iPod music player over the MP3 market will not last for much longer. He is not the only one sceptical about the device; Dell chief executive Kevin Rollins also believes the iPod is a passing fad. Gates' comments come just days after Microsoft rolled out their new Operating Systems for mobile devices, Windows Mobile 5.0. Gates believes that it looks increasingly likely that hardware MP3 players will be replaced soon by mobile phones that are capable of storing large amounts of music.

Bill told a German publication that the iPod dominance will reflect what happened to the Mac in its fight with Windows. "You can make parallels with computers: Apple was very strong in this field before, with its Macintosh and its graphics user interface - like the iPod today, and then lost its position," Gates is quoted as telling leading German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.



According to Gates, 40 handset manufacturers are shipping 68 types of device running Windows. There is certainly a lot to fight for in this market. JupiterReasearch estimates that expects six per cent of adults will purchase an iPod during the next year while other manufactures like Dell and Creative Labs are close behind in people's purchasing choices.

Source:
The Register

Written by: James Delahunty @ 13 May 2005 8:47

• Previous article

• See how many people are visiting AfterDawn right now

• Next article

• MPAA sues six TV BitTorrent sites

• 26 comments

• macburner

  Ha Ha guess what this means kids... Bill Gates is on Crack!

  13.5.2005 14:15 #1

• oni103

  seems like fair statement to me. sure if your techie or something you put linux on your ipod turn into more than just a mp3 player.
  
  But Creaztive labs(they especially have some cool ipod killas) Rio and Dell have pretty nice playas out there.
  
  And now companies coming out with all in one devices like the psp and nokia that do more than just one thing right out of the box

  13.5.2005 14:29 #2

• nanu-nanu

  He is a dumbass....how long has Ipod ruled the market? It will continue to rule. Why? because its the best looking of all the MP3 Players....Nothing compete with it in looks and style. Ipod is a fashion statement unto itself. Ipod reign is so strong and that it does not even matter any more....it would decades for anything to get near it.
  
  The only that can compete with Ipod in coolness and chicheness is the PSP.

  13.5.2005 14:53 #3

• jimmyjojo

  Someone tell Gates to worry about Windows and the security problems in Internet Explorer, and leave the mp3 player market to the experts. Stupid ass, giving his two cents...

  13.5.2005 18:17 #4

• tystar

  Am I the only one who thinks Ipods are a waste of money anyway.. 1st of all u have to spend ages converting ur music so that it will play on the damn thing.. u cant purchase legal music from anywhere else but itunes.. and sorry folks they dont look that good. i'd sooner my mobile phone with my mp3's on than carrying a phone, mp3 player, and pda..

  14.5.2005 11:19 #5

• punx777

  i am totally with you tystar. i am so anti-apple.
  [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/punx777/fuckipod.gif[/IMG]
  
  i am sick of everyone referring to my zen micro, hey is that an ipod? no, its better!
  
  i am sick of apple unoriginal ishit and those stupid fucking shadows dancing around.
  
  sure, they make good mp3 players and obviously people are buying them, but why? either way, they still do NOT know how to make computers

  14.5.2005 11:24 #6

• punx777

  sorry screwd up,
  

  14.5.2005 11:26 #7

• ARcanUS

  The iPod plays mp3s, and since most of the music transferred around the world nowadays plays mp3s, you should be fine.
  
  The real problem lies with people like RealMedia and Apple who force people to use propriety formats instead of just using mp3, which is pretty much the standard.

  14.5.2005 11:35 #8

• nanu-nanu

  Did not have any problems putting the 1200 songs on my Ipod.. *but there the caveat brought up which might apply*
  
  Punx....lets see...I paid 180 for a gen 1 Ipod with 20gigs Zen offers a 6gig player for 229$. Now all that space is excessive for me to have....but oh well. But the Ipod has them all beat for looks. I was a Ipod hater too until I bought one....now I am an addict. Great picture though, thats sooooo damn funny.
  
  Apple has taken the "lions share" of the market, if the other companies think they are gaining on Ipod its onlny because its all the left over. It would take a pretty damn good peice of equipment to make me think its better than the Ipod....I would be nice if it had radio.

  14.5.2005 13:20 #9

• Londor

  punx777
  
  If you think that Apple do not know how to make computers you are not an Apple hater you are an ignorant Apple hater.

  14.5.2005 14:46 #10

• CHUPS

  What Bill Gates said does have some meritt if you really think about it.First of all let me say I don't own any type of mp3 player so I am totally unbias on the matter.If apple want to remain number one in the market place of course they are going to have to change their player to what people want maybe they might do a deal with Nokia or one of the other mobile phone companies to compete who knows.

  14.5.2005 19:02 #11

• jimmer

  yeah, seriously...i too do not have an mp3 player yet, but if a mobile phone company comes out with a cell phone that can carry a fair amount of songs then i will not get a mp3 player. Sure the ipod looks nice but why would i want to be carrying an extra item around when a cell phone can basically do the same thing.

  14.5.2005 20:09 #12

• mikey_ray

  I.P.O.D Im Pissed Off Dam
  
  all you apple haters --no look apple computers are awesome for digital editing and music production
  
  and the truth be told ipods days are numbered--cause
  alot of products are coming out that do the same and more--psp rocks cause of the features-its almost an all in one if it was only a phone-and a portable tv-to view regualar brodcast channels -it would never be beat------but if you think about it microsofts days are numbered ----he aint making as much mula as before--see x-box
  
  
  

  15.5.2005 02:26 #13

• S2K

  my phone is already an mp3 player and takes sd cards. it is more of a killer ap than cameras will ever be. personal music devices have been arond for along time. a cell phone today is 25 times more likly to found caried by a person than any personal music device, from walkmans to ipods ever.
  
  I think gates is right (as much as I lvoe to hate him).

  15.5.2005 10:16 #14

• Kyoji

  It really bewilders me to see how stupid some people can be. Can any of the people claiming "iPod will rule forever" or "Bill Gates is a bumbling fool", tell me why multimedia devices are so popular and why Bill Gates is 64 billion richer than you if he's so stupid?
  
  If any of you have been paying attention to current market trends isntead of having you head shoved 10ft into Apples ass, youd realize that theres a growing demand for devices thatc an do it all. Hence why cameras in phones are now near standard, and why the PSP is so popular with the NA crowd. The natural progression next is to have phones, cameras, and music all wrapped up inot one. And certain companies have already taken the initiative. Nokia already has a phone with mp3 and video capabilities with a 20gb HD released in Asia. Its only a matter of time before we start seeing similiar devices over this way, and when that happens, the soc alled "reign" of iPod will end.
  
  Bill Gates is right, its nothing more than a fad spawned by a lack of the product in the market, and some incredibly po-culture whore0ish marketing devices.
  I applaud you all for being affcxtive sheep.

  15.5.2005 17:44 #15

• macburner

  The only reason that bill gates is "64 billion" Dollars richer than you is because he back stabbed apple. He stole their idea and made his piece of crap "microsoft" a sad excuse for an OS.

  15.5.2005 19:41 #16

• arcanix

  When everybody (=target audience) has it, then nobody is going to buy it anymore. It's a fact when it comes to any device, like ps2 or xbox. Then they are going to make new ones, but hey, who needs over ~20gb for music that they're going to listen? And how much is it going to cost to fill up that? I'm not anti-apple but the rich b4stard makes sense. I have a psp and a 512mb ms-duo, and it's enough for me.1

  15.5.2005 22:22 #17

• amirza

  Apple
  isn't that a furniture company?

  16.5.2005 01:01 #18

• gibney85

  The Ipod is dirt - it just filled a gap. My Nokia 6630 has a 1.3Megapixel camera that can take images larger than 1024*768. I can make video calls to people over the Vodafone 3G network - there the same price as ordinary calls for now so why now. It has a very decent video camera, bulit in MP3 Player, Video Editor, ability to view internet pages like IE etc I also have a 256MB card thats is half the size of an MMC. Yes, you guessed thats alot of songs and videos. Did I forget to tell you it cost me €99 on a basic upgrade from Vodafone Ireland
  
  IPods are a waste of alot of money. My mate got one - he rarely used it and it broke after 3 months
  
  Nuff Said

  16.5.2005 04:28 #19

• arcanix

  To me apple is just a fruit among the others.

  16.5.2005 10:06 #20

• Kyoji

  Oh please, now we move on to the Windows bashing. Who cares if Bill Gates did "steal" Apple's ideas. In actuality, Steve Jobs took a team of his on a tour of the Xerox place, who had built the worlds first true OS. They basically "stole" their ideas from Xerox, so what comes around goes around.
  Regardless, youc ant deny the fact that the world right now is built on windows. As much as you try and be cool by bashing windows and calling Gates a moron, that fact will never change. Linux will never overtake windows, OSX will never overtake windows, so get used to it. Personally, I dont see whats so bad about the OS. It lays everything out for me in a very simple way, and is really the middle ground between Linux and OSX. OSX to me feels too restricting, and Linux leaves too much to the user for my comfort. Not only that, theres around 100x the software for windows than OSX or Linux, so your missing out.
  Without Gates or Windows, the computer industry would not be what it is today.
  Funny how PC's really took off when windows 3.1 was released...not when Mac OS was released. So Microsoft is obviously doing something right. Show some respect where respect is due, without people like gates or programs like Windows, you most likely wouldnt be reading this post on the internet right now.

  16.5.2005 14:17 #21

• steve7059

  In reply to nanu-nanu, who stated that IPODs will reign for decades because it is a "fashion statement". How many fashions can you think of that last for decades?

  17.5.2005 11:00 #22

• lajr1980

  i'm hooked on Ipod and it's the shyt!

  18.5.2005 00:55 #23

• prjctsttc

  I Bought my 40 GIg Zen Player from best buy for 250$... a 6 gig i pod mini is 250$ ipod...hmmm...the zen player in my opinion is better...what do u think?
  

  ^
  O O
  <_^_>

  12.6.2005 19:35 #24

• borhan9

  The Ipod is a great peace of tech. Can bill just b positive 4 once. but we will have to c wat bill brings out to challenge it.
  

  12.6.2005 20:14 #25

• punx777

  prjctsttc, i agree with you, the prices are REDICULOUS, but you cant exactly go off of that, because a 5 gig zen micro costs 199.
  
  you arent exactly paying for the number of gb's but the size and capabilities

  13.6.2005 14:17 #26