iPod and Its Rivals – Who Is Lagging Behind?

When it is about MP3 player then it is Apple's iPod! This was a truth that couldn't be denied for about 4 years until competitors made their appearance! Portable audio market has come with many new models of MP3 player aiming to set iPod back and even push it out of market. We will call them rivals.

Over the past few years giants such as Sony and Microsoft where fighting for a segment of market lagging behind Apple when it came to digital MP3 players. Some believe that the situation has changed and Apple has to be concerned about its rivals.

Let's study some of iPod's rivals and see whether they can take leading positions.

1. Zune from Microsoft. This is one of serious rivals of iPod. It is available in different models the best of which has a 30GB hard disk drive with a storing capacity of about 7,500 songs/ 25,000 pictures/ 100 video hours. The most evident advantage of Zune is the possibility to connect to either networks or devices. The estimated price for Zune is $249.99.

2. NW-HD3 Network Walkman from SONY. Many users appreciate Sony's NW-HD3 Network Walkman for its excellent sound and easy navigable menu. NW-HD3 has a four-way directional button for navigation. The hard disc's capacity is 20 GB, which means it can store an equivalent of 13,000 songs/ 900 CDs. This is possible due to ATRAC3plus audio compression technology. They say that this compression technology doesn't affect sound quality.

Sony claims that the playback time without recharging is 30 hours. NW-HD3 Network Walkman goes for $349.

3. Zen Micro from Creative Technology. This MP3 player is a competitor for iPod mini. A first look to this player will reveal ingenious design. It is only 3.3" high and is available in 10 bright colors. Some of the Zen's specs are: vertical touch pad, 4,5 and 6 GB storage capacity, 12 hours of continuous playback, etc. The interesting fact about ZEN Micro is that it was designed with an intuitive vertical touch pad and touch sensitive controls. This eases the navigation and searching through processes.

The innovative part about this player is the removable disk. This allows you to connect the player to PC and directly copy the files you need. The price for Zen micro (6GB) is $99.

4. SDMX4-4096 Sansa e260 from Sandisk. SDMX4-4096 Sansa e260 is a ultra-thin 4GB flash memory MP3 player. It sports digital audio (MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM10) imaging and video files. It can hold up to 1000 songs.

Sansa e260 has a heavy-duty construction. The back side of the player is covered with Titanium alloy from Liquidmetal Technologies. It is harder than steel and has a higher resistance to scratches and wear. SDMX4-4096 Sansa e260 goes for $130.

5. HDD6330 from Philips. This is an ultra-thin digital MP3 player with audio, image and video capabilities. It is itemized as one of the most stylish and compact digital audio players. Some of Philips HDD630's specs are: integrated 30 GB hard drive, 4GB flash memory, color LCD 220 x 220 pixels (65 thousand colors, 8 lines of text), built-in photo viewer (compatible with JPEG image files).

HDD630 can hold up to 15,000 MP3 and WMA files (including DRM protected Plays For Sure WMA files)/ 8,400 pictures. Philips HDD6330 price is estimated to $159.99.

Why iPod still dominates?

There are a lot of specifications that distinguish the rivals of iPod and some of their indexes make them better. But still iPod continues to be a leader, and this is why:

iPod is considered the most elegant music player
Apple offers three levels of devices (5 iPod generations, mini, and Shuffle)
there is a huge variety of models which can store between 120 and 15,000 songs
iPod price ranges between $99 and $449 fitting any purse
Apple provides a large range of accessories and services

iPod products are still among the best sellers, according to Amazon.com. The five best sold Apple's MP3 players are:

Apple 30 GB iPod video Black
Apple 80 GB iPod
Apple 2 GB iPod Nano
Apple 1 GB iPod Shuffle and
Apple 8 GB iPod Nano

The same source (Amazon.com) report that Sandisk Sansa e260 comes on the 6th place. The top is continued by MP3 players such as: Apple 30 GB iPod White, Apple 4 GB iPod Nano Silver, SanDisk Sansa M230 512 MB, and SanDisk Sansa M240 1 GB. The positions 13 and 16 are taken by Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player (Black) and Creative Zen Vision:M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player, respectively.