HP introduced the Apple iPod by HP in late August, making for approximately one month of real sales, making the results impressive as HP ramped up its distribution during that time.
While declining to comment on the details of HPis rollout, Tim Cook, Executive Vice President – Worldwide Sales and Operations, noted that another benefit of Appleis partnership with HP is that the company is also shipping iTunes on every HP consumer desktop and portable around the world.
“Weire getting fantastic distribution for the iTunes client,” said Mr. Cook. “We continue to be very pleased that HP selected the iPod and the iTunes Music Store, and are standing with us with these products.”
The units are re-branded iPods manufactured by Apple, but repackaged by HP with packing, colored cables, and instructions specific to HPis Windows customers. The units sell for the same price as the Apple-branded units.
At the time of introduction, noted Apple doom-sayer Rob Enderle predicted that HP would outsell Apple-branded units “relatively quickly.” So far, this appears not to be the case, but HPis retail presence reaches out to thousands of retail stores around the world. This gives the company access to many more markets than Apple, and time may show that HP can move significant quantities of iPods.
Brad Gibson contributed to this article.