kdogz13

Apple's iTunes: Rapid Sales Acceleration

Re: Mollytjm

Hey look - customers shouldn't be trapped for life because 5 years ago the iPod was better than other MP3 players.

A few years ago - the US Congress mandated that cell phone companies must allow users to keep their cell phone numbers when they switch to another company. The reason? Companies were using an anti-competitive hurdle (the burden of changing cell phone numbers) as a way to trap customers into staying with their company.

This is basic stuff - Apple is using the success of iPods (and music from iTunes) as a way to propel sales in iPhones - and as a disincentive to buy non-Apple products. This is the same type of monopolistic activity that Microsoft did a few years back...

Apple's iTunes: Rapid Sales Acceleration

With 5 billion songs sold - all of which can only be played on Apple's devices - at what point does this become anti-competitive? Customers will be stuck with Apple devices unless they choose to re-purchase songs/movies to use with a rival's device (a huge hurdle for rival devices to overcome).

GameStop Is On Fire

"GameStop will continue to benefit from the current video game cycle, which is still in the 'early innings' of the game."

Video games have become so big that the industry may not even be "cyclical" anymore... Nintendo/MS/Sony don't seem to be on the same timeline - spreading the release of their consoles over 1.5 years... and the PS2 is still doing incredibly well...

The nintendo generation is coming of age... with more and more $ to pump into their beloved video games...