If you look online and search MP3 Players , you can clearly see that the majority of the MP3/MP4 players that come up are apple products. Now an iPod is fine and dandy but why hasn't there been a Android Player to compete with Apple? With Google Music's option to add endless amounts of music to your library for 10$ a month is absolutely amazing, but the only place to really utilize it, is our smartphones. Samsung had the Galaxy Player, which was the closest thing to competing with Apple and they ended up being discontinued. WHY? There has to be a market for something else rather than ipods and whatnot. What are your thoughts?
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Android Player
- Thread starter njk570
- Start date
njk570, to give my opinion about what you are asking. You kind of answered your own question by the way. I feel like most people who would even consider buying an ipod, android mp3 player these days already has a smartphone/tv set top boxes such as Google TV, Chromecast which have the capability to access Google Music and any other Google services such as Google Movies/TV, Newstand, etc. to consume their media, so why would they want another device to carry around that will do the same thing as my smartphone. Also, the ipod is sort of going the way of all other technology devices that get outdone by the next big thing. In this case, it would be the "smartphone". Just my 2cents.....
chanchan05
The Doctor
Because it's pointless? I don't even think iPods are selling as much as they used to. They've been relegated to dusty corners of the Apple Stores as far as I can see. The main selling point of iPods now is for people who want a portable Apple device, but don't want to buy a current gen iPhone, considering those are twice the price of a same capacity iPod. You can keep a basic cellphone and use an iPod together, and you have a lot of similar functionality with an iPhone, at the problem of needing an additional charger and two devices to carry around.
I've yet to see anyone who has both current gen iPhone and iPod. Most of those I know who have an iPod and iPhone either have different gen devices (I know someone who has an iPhone 3GS still, but uses the current gen iPod because he didn't want to spend so much on a new phone), or someone who has an older gen iPod and decided to buy an iPhone instead of a new iPod.
In an Android scenario, a music player device isn't ideal. The plethora of cheaper Android devices makes them irrelevant. Why will you buy an Android music player (Sony still has Android Walkman lineup I believe), when you can just use your old phone? Or a second hand phone? Or a cheaper device from ZTE or Huawei? You can get a quad core ZTE device running JB for like $150, way cheaper than how Samsung or HTC or Sony would price their offerings, considering they also have cheaper devices to sell, like the Galaxy Fame. Take a look at say, the cheaper end tablets. A Galaxy Tab 3 WiFi sells for just $30 less than a Tab 3 with 3G. If we take this to a player scenario to a Samsung phone, for example a Galaxy S3 Mini, which currently sells for around $250 unsubsidized. Making a player version with the same specs would be, $220. So why bother? A thinking customer would just buy the unsubsidized S3Mini and he can use it as a player by just not putting a SIM card in it. Plus he can use it as a backup phone should his primary phone's battery get drained.
I've yet to see anyone who has both current gen iPhone and iPod. Most of those I know who have an iPod and iPhone either have different gen devices (I know someone who has an iPhone 3GS still, but uses the current gen iPod because he didn't want to spend so much on a new phone), or someone who has an older gen iPod and decided to buy an iPhone instead of a new iPod.
In an Android scenario, a music player device isn't ideal. The plethora of cheaper Android devices makes them irrelevant. Why will you buy an Android music player (Sony still has Android Walkman lineup I believe), when you can just use your old phone? Or a second hand phone? Or a cheaper device from ZTE or Huawei? You can get a quad core ZTE device running JB for like $150, way cheaper than how Samsung or HTC or Sony would price their offerings, considering they also have cheaper devices to sell, like the Galaxy Fame. Take a look at say, the cheaper end tablets. A Galaxy Tab 3 WiFi sells for just $30 less than a Tab 3 with 3G. If we take this to a player scenario to a Samsung phone, for example a Galaxy S3 Mini, which currently sells for around $250 unsubsidized. Making a player version with the same specs would be, $220. So why bother? A thinking customer would just buy the unsubsidized S3Mini and he can use it as a player by just not putting a SIM card in it. Plus he can use it as a backup phone should his primary phone's battery get drained.
They're still quite popular here in China, especially with people who fly regularly. Reason is phones must be turned off during during domestic flights, PRC civil aviation laws don't recognise "Flight mode". There's plenty of Chinese manufacturers still making MP3 players, and Creative still makes them as well, including an Android one. When I'm travelling I'm still using an iPod Video 80GB with Rockbox, so plenty of music and podcasts to listen to, also I'm not draining the phone battery unnecessarily either in the absence of anywhere to charge it during the journey.
chanchan05
The Doctor
Yes but China is sort of a world unto itself. What's happening there doesn't usually reflect most of the world.
That's very true... LOL! Cassettes are still an everyday sight here, as are CRT TVs, Video-CDs and DVDs. There's almost no Blu-ray unless imported, instead there's a home grown equivalent called China Blue High-Definition (CBHD) which is based on the abandoned HD-DVD. No Xbox or Playstation however that's recently changed. And our own 3G and 4G technology as well. TD-LTE and TD-SCDMA. Probably in almost country now you can use phones on planes provided they're in flight mode, except for China.
BTW there's a peculiarity on Qantas flights, you can use mobile phones but not Furbys.