The smallest member of the iPod family is in big demand

Vidya Gupta, 17, has been eyeing an iPod for months, but hasn’t mustered up the courage to tell her parents. Now she can. For the price tag of the iPod Shuffle — that stores and plays but does not display music — has been nearly halved in one tuneful stroke.

With prices dropping from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,500 in most stores, the biggest gizmo buy this season is the 1GB iPod Shuffle. “The price slash by Apple came into effect some 10 days ago. With the cost to the consumer being almost halved, the demand has doubled,” says one of the distributors of Apple’s iPod in town who is “out of stock” thanks to “repeat orders”.

To cash in on the Shuffle craze, Apple has also introduced a 2GB iPod Shuffle for Rs 3,800, while the price tags on iPod Nano (Rs 8,500 approx.) and the iPod Touch (Rs 17,700-plus) remain unchanged.

The smallest member of the iPod family, the clip-on Shuffle, allows music buffs to wear up to 500 songs on their sleeve, lapel or belt in its 2GB version and up to 240 songs in its 1GB version. The mini magic is smaller than a palm, measuring 1.07 inches in height and 1.62 inches in width. The one big difference with the iPod Nano is the absence of a visual display screen.

“The price slash has had a positive effect. Orders are coming in repeats from all our channel partners and organised retail outlets. In 10 days, we are out of stock,” says Ganesh Sonika, the territory manager of retail in Redington, distributors to retail outlets like MusicWorld and Shopper’s Stop. Other major distributors are HCL and Ingram Micro.

Repeat orders are also coming in from consumers like Maneka. “I got an iPod Shuffle as a birthday gift and once I found out the price, I decided to pick up one for my younger sister,” says 27-year-old Maneka, who works with an NGO.

“Most buyers pick up the iPod Shuffle as a gift item,” says Kaushik Mukherjee, the manager of Mac Intel Solutions, re-sellers and service providers of Apple products.

“After the prices have fallen, monthly sales could double from 1,000 pieces to 2,000. After all, getting an iPod for so less is bound to create ripples,” adds Mukherjee.

The demand is expected to grow further once school and college exams get over, as parents pick them up for their children and friends gift friends.

“The real target group for the iPod Shuffle are students in high school and undergraduate college. They cannot afford the iPod Nano or the Touch, but want to play their own music. We anticipate a demand spurt once the board exams get over in April,” says Pulkit Baid, the director of Great Eastern Technocity on Sarat Bose Road.