It's all relative. Creative declared war, they said they'd take marketshare. Instead they lost more money and lost marketshare.
Creative entered the mp3 player market in March of 1999 and has only sold only about 5 million devices (Half of which are entirely antiquated and should probably not be factored in as any userbase).
Apple entered the market in October, 2001 and has sold over 10 million devices.
Creatives sales were up year-over-year 50% (which includes all products).
Apple's iPod sales were up year-over-year 525%.
Creatives' profits plummetted. Even excluding the one time charges (which exceed a profit loss of 50 million), they lost more than 3 million. (If they lose more money the more they sell, I hope they continue at this pace.)
Apple's profits soared to $295 million, up from $63 million. Revenue was $3.49 billion (3.5 x the value of Creative), up 74%.
Creatives' stock fell 15% the day after announcing and has subsequently continued to slide downward.
Apple's stock after 350% increase over last year continues to climb upward. It looks like, about, 4%. (Around $69 on the 12th, up to $72+ today.)
Creatives margins continue to fall.
Apple's margins were up from 26.7% to 28.5%.
And...
Has their advertising campaign even begun yet? I haven't seen a thing. I actually see more advertisements for iPod accessories than I do any other device. (JBL has a huge campaign of street and subway posters advertising iPod accessories currently.)
If Creative has declared war by losing marketshare, losing margins, and losing profits at the expense of greater numbers and revenues (which are still dwarfed by Apple's), they're in for trouble.
Of course, this is ParkkerWorld where the least significant financial iindicators (units and revenues) are more important than the more significant factors (profit, margins, marketshare).
And, of course, there's no reason to comment on Creative. I wouldn't care to comment at all... They are not significant as a whole. The only problem is: Creative is the one that began the comparisons. They declared "war." They proclaimed they will steal marketshare from Apple.
This post was edited by sodajerk on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 at 19:20.
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