100 million iPods sold - and counting

It seems hard to imagine today, but prior to the winter of 2001 was an age when young people walked around without tiny white buds stuck in their ears.

The un-wired age came to an abrupt end on October 23, 2001, when Apple unveiled the now-ubiquitous iPod, putting it on sale the following month.

Just over five years later, Apple has now sold 100 million iPods, boasting this week that the digital device was "the fastest selling music player in history", and claiming it appealed to both young and old.

Since its launch, the portable music player has become the must-have gadget worldwide, with Apple introducing more than 10 new models to incorporate changing technology and tastes such as the ability to record and play videos, hold photos, and with more varied, fashionable colours.

It dominates the market to such an extant that its very name has become a by-word for portable digital music players.

And the world now waits with baited breath for the iPhone Apple's follow-up device which will combine a mobile phone and iPod, as well as enabling the user to answer their e-mail on the go. The eargerly awaited device is due to be released in the US this summer.

"iPod has helped millions of people around the world rekindle their passion for music, and we're thrilled to be a part of that," Apple's chief executive officer Steve Jobs said in a statement.

Jobs has more than one reason to be pleased with the iPod its phenomenal success has provided a knock-on benefit for Apple, allowing its iTunes online music store to sell an astaounding more than 2.5 billion songs since it was launched.

The service has also sold over 50 million television shows and more than 1.3 million movies.

The market-leading iPod has taken over from the original portable audio player with headphones, the Walkman, launched by Sony in 1979, burrowing into the consciousness of music lovers across the globe.

Celebrity endorsements have included that of Grammy Award-winning R&B songstress Mary J. Blige, who said it was hard to remember what her life was like before she got her ever-present iPod.

"The iPod is more than just a music player, it's an extension of your personality and a great way to take your favourite music with you everywhere you go," said Blige.

And she isn't the only star to have endorsed the music player, with rock band U2 cooperating with Apple on a special edition black and red iPod to celebrate the release of their album How the Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

Current versions of the iPod are priced around $249, and although their adverts contain images of young hipsters dancing in the streets, recent research suggests they are becoming popular with older people too.

A survey of 100 people aged 99 years and older released earlier this month by US health care co-ordinator Evercare surprisingly found that four percent of respondents had listened to music on an iPod.

The iPod has also sparked a vast range of over 4,000 accessories varying from cases to speaker systems, many produced by third parties. And More than 70 percent of US cars made in 2007 offer iPod connectivity.

In January Apple unveiled a record annual profit for 2006 of $7.1 billion nearly half of which came from iPod sales.

Today the iPod is so commonplace that one of Australia's biggest banks, the Commonwealth Bank, now uses a recent version - the slimline Nano - to compare global currencies and purchasing power in 26 countries, similar to the Big Mac index launched 20 years ago by The Economist magazine.

Source: China Daily/agencies