Samsung is releasing what it hopes will be, the portable MP3 player that will slay the Goliath that is the iPod: the YP-Z5.
You have to give it to this baby. In tries to match everything the iPod Nano offers…everything but the scroll wheel.
- Same size (3.5 by 1.6 inches)
- Similar choices of colors (silver or black)
- Same storage capacity (2GB or 4GB)
- Similar SRPs ($200 and $250)
It even hired Paul Mercer, a former Apple employee to add that Apple flavor to the software running the Samsung YP-Z5. Samsung and a host of other portable MP3 player manufacturers understand the values people love about the iPod. Almost all competitors have tried to dissect and replicate these values, to no avail.
At least six factors make the iPod such a hit: cool-looking hardware; a fun-to-use, variable-speed scroll wheel; an ultrasimple software menu; effortless song synchronization with Mac or Windows; seamless, rock-solid integration with an online music store (iTunes); and a universe of accessories. Mess up any aspect of the formula, and your iPod killer is doomed to market-share crumbs.
3 comments
Maybe the only thing that could kill the iPod is an iPod clone?
there’s a chance that this will be a hit in asia, but i doubt if its going to be big in the US.
In Singapore and South Korea, iPods have never garnered number one spot!