23 October 2001 - iPod launch

Digital Innovation Days

On the 23rd of October, 2001, Apple Inc. started its line of portable media players with the release of the iPod. With its tagline of “1,000 songs in your pocket”, this device came with a 2-inch 160x128 pixel screen, included a state-of-the-art 5 GB hard drive, used a scroll wheel for user interface, and had a battery life of 10 hours. Initially, the iPod was released for the Macintosh platform but in the next year, the company introduced a version for the Windows operating system as well.

On brand with Apple’s minimalist and user-friendly style, 400,000 units of this sleek device were sold in 2002, accounting for 2% of the company’s revenue. By 2004, Apple was generating around 15% of its annual revenue from iPods. Not only did this product transform the business landscape of the company but to this day, the iPod is considered one of the most revolutionary tech gadgets of the 2000s.

The later releases in this product line introduced features such as higher storage capacity, touchscreen interface, additional case colours, smaller sizes, greater battery life, as well as game and video playback facility. Most of the iPods were a huge success and this product line was even once considered the cash cow of Apple. In 2008, 54.83 million iPod units were sold worldwide. However, with the rise of iPhones, a declining trend has been observed in iPod sales globally. In fact, while referring to the original iPhone, Steve Jobs is reported to have joked, “It’s the best iPod we’ve ever made.” After iPhones, there was not any practical need for iPods anymore.

With just one product (iPod Touch) in this line still existing today, the iPod now has dwindling relevance in a world dominated by smartphones. However, its significance is undeniable in the sense that it altered the way music was consumed (for instance, the shuffle option affected music sales worldwide) and had a huge impact on the entire ecosystem it operated in (links with iTunes and iCloud).