iPod Touch Wows Customers But Fails To Sell

When Apple finally released the iPod touch there was much celebration and many saw an instant best-seller that would eat both into the more expensive iPhone as well as the high end iPod sales. Several months later, it looks like things are not exactly working out that way, the touch having indeed captured the imagination of the public, but not managing to actually make the sale.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, analysts for ThinkEquity Partners LLC surveyed 90 Apple stores and 18 Best Buy locations. Despite generating the most consumer interest out of the entire iPod lineup, the touch lost to the nano in terms of actual sales.
This is not really surprising considering the fact that the nano and the mini before it, have always been Apple's best selling media player, and the touch just doesn't fit very well into that category. Moreover, now that the new nanos have color screens and the ability to play video there are even fewer compelling reasons to buy bigger models.

Size and price were both very significant factors in the decision to opt for a nano over a touch and this also works the other way too, many customers preferring to buy an actual iPhone over the touch. Considering the negligible price difference between the high-end touch and the iPhone, as well as the significant feature difference between the two, this is not at all surprising. Observers also noticed that older customers preferred the touch over the nano because of the greater versatility, while the younger crowd generally avoided it.

It will be interesting to see how well the touch does in markets where it has no competition because the iPhone has not been officially launched yet. In the meantime, it looks like Apple has differentiated their products very well and the touch won't cannibalize everything like many were expecting it to.