Comments on: Microsoft admits iPod helping Apple win http://gigaom.com/2005/07/28/microsoft-admits-ipod-helping-apple-win-2/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:50:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Jeff http://gigaom.com/2005/07/28/microsoft-admits-ipod-helping-apple-win-2/#comment-105685 Fri, 29 Jul 2005 15:36:20 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2005/07/28/microsoft-admits-ipod-helping-apple-win-2/#comment-105685 Helping Apple win???

Win what? A point in market share? A reprieve from Microsoft having to bail them out with another investment?

The iPod is a wonderful product (I own 2), but…I’m trying to figure out what exactly they are winning? Music?? I realize that iTunes recently reached 500M downloads (which included the Pepsi campaign). Now if MSFT wanted to take even significant portion of its $37B in cash and give away songs for free to users (while paying rights holders)- how quickly would Apple lose market share?

Would that be smart for MSFT? Not sure… Music is a commodity business where they are competing on cost (everyone has roughly the same 1 million songs). Once the smart phones become mass market, it’ll be interesting to see how MSFT reacts.

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