iPod不死，承载苹果新使命

    曾经有段时间，几乎所有的分析师都会在投资报告中大谈特谈iPod。而如今，你很难再看到有哪篇投资报告会再提及iPod。用业内分析师的话来说，这样一个销售额仅占苹果总营收3%的产品已经是“明日黄花”了。

    苹果对待iPod的态度也令人玩味。一方面，iPod每年仍可以为苹果带来数亿美元的营收，因此苹果并不想完全放弃该产品。但是与iPod相比，苹果更看重的是iPhone或iPad的销量。因为iPhone或iPad的售价更高，有助于苹果提升业绩，进而能够不断地超越华尔街的预期。再加上iPhone或iPad高企的利润率，就不难理解为什么iPod不受重视了。

    但是，iPod每年仍能为苹果带来数亿美元的现金收入，因此它仍有存在的必要。苹果虽然会继续推出新款iPod，但原因仅仅是不想让华尔街失望。也因为如此，苹果在最近iPhone 5发布会上同时发布了新款iPod Touch和iPod Nano。这两款产品被巧妙安排在iPhone 5发布之后推出，既保证了宣传效果又不至于抢了iPhone 5的风头。

    苹果或许会慢慢地将iPod边缘化。最终有一天，iPod对苹果的业绩的影响会变得微乎其微，消失在苹果的产品线中，而普通消费者或许丝毫不会介意。尽管如此，有一点却是毋庸置疑，即用户购买每一部iPhone或iPad 也就等于是在购买iPod。毕竟，这些产品集成了iPod的所有功能，无论从哪点上来说，它们都是iPod的延伸。

    这就是iPod依然重要的原因。很显然，曾经风靡全球的iPod终将退出历史舞台，但是它作为移动音乐和视频播放平台，正在被整合到新一代功能更加强大的产品中。由此可见，iPod依然重要，iPod不会消亡，而是进入到发展历史的新阶段。

    译者：唐昕昕

    There was a time when iPod discussions made up nearly all the investor notes analysts sent out. Nowadays, it's hard to find a single analyst that'll even mention the music players in their advice to shareholders. At just 3% of Apple's overall business, iPods have become -- to borrow a term from analysts -- immaterial.

    Apple has walked an odd tightrope with the iPod. On one hand, the company doesn't want to totally ignore the devices, since they're still bringing in billions of dollars in sales each year. However, Apple would much prefer to sell iPhones or iPads over iPods. The company's flagship devices sell at higher prices, helping it to boost its performance and continue to beat Wall Street expectations. Add that to the high margins they produce, and it quickly becomes clear why iPods are an afterthought.

    Still, because iPods generate billions in cash for Apple each year, they've become a bit of a necessity -- the products that Apple will continue to release simply because it doesn't want to disappoint Wall Street. So, the company recently announced a new iPod Touch and iPod Nano at its iPhone 5 event. The announcements were strategically placed after the iPhone 5 was announced to all but guarantee they were given low billing in news stories.

    Does the average person care that Apple is slowly easing iPods aside until finally, its impact on its financials is so small that it can discontinue them? Not a chance. A solid argument can be made that every iPhone or iPad a person buys is really another iPod sale. After all, those devices integrate all of the features found in today's iPods. They are, for all intents and purposes, iPods on steroids.

    That's why the iPod really matters. The iPod as we once knew it is definitely going the way of the Dodo. But the iPod – a platform that allows consumers to play music and video while mobile – is morphing into its next state as a component in a product that can do more. And that's why it still matters: The iPod isn't dying. The iPod is simply entering the next phase of its long history.