Forrester: An iPod For Every Occasion, And Every Room

Forrester analyst Paul Jackson takes a guest turn at the Devices, Media, And The Future Of Everything blog, to give his thoughts on the Apple Shuffle price cuts and the introdduction of the 1GB iPod nano. He writes that "apart from broadening their range and offering a very competitively price 1GB Nano, Apple’s strategy here is to grow a new demographic: the multi-iPod user." This is what Jackson thinks the moves mean for Apple and its legions of music player fans:

1. It really underlines the value of single / dual usage device model. We often get asked about when devices will ‘converge’; TVs and the home network or PVR being the current vogue. But consumers still vote with their pockets and pick best of class single application devices...or possibly dual application devices if you include the video functionality on the grown up iPods.
2. Going for the multi-iPod consumers has two distinct advantages for Apple as it:

• Puts the PC back at the center of the ‘iPod experience’. For many consumers syncing that huge capacity iPod is a one time only event – cramming years of ripped CDs on the device and then maybe doing updates of new music when they can be bothered. With multiple, small devices, the syncing needs to be more frequent – say changing the ‘gym’ Nano into a ‘beach’ Nano for the holidays and the PC is back in a more active management role.
• Gets those fervent Mac supporters to buy a couple more devices. So the announcement really amounts to a cheaper Shuffle and a lower capacity Nano – but the point is the price, this is the first iPod to come in significantly below that psychological $100 barrier and the first (non-discounted) iPod with a screen to be below $200 as far as I know. That shelf in the bathroom is just crying out for a shuffle and some waterproof speakers!