The New iPod Shuffle: Smart or Scam?
The new 4GB iPod Shuffle costs $79. We knew that. What we didn't know is that Apple pays only about $22 ($21.77) to actually make the new 4GB iPod Shuffle. Yes, that's right; Apple is selling their latest product at a price more than 3x the price of actually making the product.
A little P.S.: the most expensive part of the new iPod shuffle (the memory console - 4GB - and the controller chip). Total Cost = $6
Now, whether you may feel this way or not, this is an incredibly smart business move that Apple is making here. Apple has so cleanly and cleverly disguised the fact that their smallest and [one of the] most innovative product is overpriced. People, before you get all pissed off, realize that that is how business works -- to make more money and spend less money (especially with the economy the way it is).
What I think Apple doesn't realize, now that this truth is in the public eye, is that people are probably not going to ever buy the new iPod Shuffle until the price goes down. People were already complaing that the Apple headset was mandatory for the new Shuffle; now they have even more reason to complain about it. Going back to how the economy is right now, $79 is not really easy to spend on something like the iPod shuffle. But, if Apple were to lower the price of the new Shuffle, they would have to lower the price of the other two remaining Shuffles to even it out, and if they did that, Apple would be losing revenue.
Seriously, no matter what, that's how business works! It always has worked like that, and it always will. You don't HAVE to buy the iPod Shuffle. Who says you MUST buy an iPod? It's your choice! Spend your money how you want to. If you think the iPod Shuffle is a quality product, and you have $79 lying around, go ahead and buy it! Either way, if you have an existing iPod that works and has over 4GB of memory, it's probably not worth buying unless you absolutely "have to have it." The choice is yours.
Mike Khuraibet Apr 17, 2009 at 12:22 AM
Reader Comments (2)
Personally, I think that its another one of Apple's experiments.
By the way, $22 is only the cost of the parts for the iPod shuffle. That doesn't include all the research and development as well as the cost to actually manufacture the iPod.