From Jason Calacanis' post that I discussed the other day: Quickly answer the following question: who are the number two and three MP3 players in the market?
Apple's competitors in the MP3 player market flatter themselves if they think they are numbers two and three in the market.
According to Amazon.com sales rankings:
1. Apple iPod Touch 8Gb
2. Apple iPod Touch 16Gb
3. Apple iPod Classic 120Gb black
4. Apple iPod nano 8Gb black
5. Apple iPod Touch 32Gb
6. Apple iPod shuffle 1Gb silver
7. Apple iPod Classic 120Gb silver
8. SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4Gb black
9. Apple iPod nano 8Gb blue
10. Apple iPod nano 8Gb silver
11. Apple iPod shuffle 1Gb bright blue
12. SanDisk Sansa Fuze 2Gb black
13. Apple iPod nano 8Gb Purple
14. SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8Gb black
15. Apple iPod nano 16Gb black
16. Apple iPod nano 8Gb green
17. Apple iPod nano 8Gb pink
18. SanDisk Sansa Clip 1Gb black
19. Apple iPod shuffle 1Gb pink
20. Apple iPod shuffle 1Gb bright green
21. SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8Gb silver
22. SanDisk Sansa Clip 4Gb black
23. Apple iPod nano 16Gb silver
24. Creative Zen 8Gb black
25. Apple iPod nano 16Gb blue
26. Apple iPod nano 16Gb purple
27. Apple iPod nano 8Gb yellow
28. a generic iPod-touch lookalike device with the following specs: "8 GB MP4/MP3 Player with FM Radio, Camera, Voice Recorder, USB Portable, and 2.8-inch Touchscreen"
29. Coby MP305-4G MP3 Player with 4 GB Flash Memory FM Radio, USB Drive and LCD - Black
30. Apple iPod nano 16Gb green
31. Microsoft Zune 120Gb red
32. SanDisk Sansa Clip 4Gb silver
33. Apple iPod nano 8Gb orange
34. Apple iPod shuffle 4Gb black
35. SanDisk Sansa Clip 2Gb black
36. Apple iPod nano 16Gb pink
37. Coby 4 GB Flash Video MP3 Player with FM Radio black
38. Coby 4GB Flash MP3 Player with FM and Color Display black
39. Sony Walkman 8Gb black
40. SanDisk Sansa Clip 8Gb black
41. Creative Zen X-Fi 32Gb black/silver
42. SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4Gb red
43. generic iPod touch lookalike: "Touch Screen 4GB 2.8-Inch TFT MP4/MP3 Movie Music Personal Media Player"
44. SanDisk Sansa Clip 2Gb blue
45. Apple iPod nano 4Gb silver (old)
46. SanDisk Sansa Express 2Gb black
47. Coby MP305 2Gb
48. Archos 7 160Gb Internet Media Tablet
49. Pro Ebiz 4Gb (generic iPod touch lookalike)
50. Apple iPod touch 8Gb (old model)
Conclusion: Apple sell more piss-yellow iPod nanos than Microsoft do Zunes. And, of course, only one MP3 player in the top 10 on Amazon isn't made by Apple.
That said, there isn't just these devices: there are plenty of devices now which have MP3 playing functionality but which aren't standalone MP3 players like the iPod. Many mobile phones and handheld games devices (the PSP etc.).
Apple's competitors and media pundits put the iPod's success down to good marketing and even a kind of "sheep effect" - that iPod users are sheep who have joined a cult led by a David Koresh-style character. For some reason, they rarely point to the good design or the simple end-to-end sync experience. The latter is why I bought an iPod. No other device has as simple a syncing process - and if you listen to lots of stuff, that's what you end up doing a lot.
