What the new iPods mean

Michael Gartenberg | February 23, 2005, 08:37 AM

Once again, the rumor sites were mostly wrong. There are no color screens across the line and certainly no Bluetooth models. What's most important about the new announcements are the fact that Apple has lowered the mini to a $199 price point while preserving the magic thousand song storage mark. This is pretty bad news for the competition that was looking for ways to go after the mini. At this point, with a $50 price difference at most of the line (and $100 on the highest SKU) Apple now has the most complete product line at effective price bands to allow consumers join the iPod experience while not creating overlapping products. This is a good tactical move and will once again force their competitors to respond.