When I wrote earlier today about the new Apple iPod offerings, and I didn't really mention Dubai at all. Sorry, I got a little caught up in the geeky fun of new toys.
But I did notice something about iPods when I came to Dubai.
There aren't that many.
Now, maybe it's because the last company I worked at in the States was primarily 24 to 27 year olds, but I'd say half of them had iPods. And I don't mean "mp3 players" when I say that. I mean "Apple branded iPod mp3 players". In fact, of all of my friends and family, I don't know anyone who has a non-Apple mp3 player.
And then there's Boston. Every time I go down there to visit I'm amazed at how everyone on the street is either talking on a cell phone or listening to music with little white ear buds (i.e. Apple iPod headphones.) When I was a boy in college there, well, you think eight years isn't that long, but that predates cell phones and iPods. Quite a bit has changed in Boston in those few years.
But in Dubai things are a little different.
The stores in the malls sell iPods, yes, but they also sell random other mp3 players - ones that they either don't sell in the States, or if they do those models just don't get the shelf-space due to Apple's near overwhelming market share. I've read that in the US iPods make up anywhere from 70 to 78% of the mp3 players.
Three out of four people who have an mp3 player have an Apple iPod.
Worldwide the iPod has somewhere around 50% of the market. This spring Apple told investors that it holds 40% share in the UK, 54% in Japan, 45% in Canada, and 58% in Australia.
They didn't mention Dubai, though. It's got to be a slim percentage. But hey, that means that there's room for growth ...
