iPod Kills RIO, Microsoft Kills iPod

Posted on Saturday, September 03 2005 @ 8:26 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Designtechnica has a new editorial about the current state of the digital audio player market.

This week, D&M holding killed the RIO line of MP3 players because they simply could not compete with the iPod. What makes this amazing is that a few years ago the RIO, then owned by S3, was competing with Creative Labs for this market and was largely believed to be the company to beat. Apple came out of nowhere as a failing PC company and not only took the market away from Creative Labs and RIO, but grew the market to be vastly larger than before.

Apple was successful because they created a product that was easier to use, had adequate capacity, was portable, and looked gorgeous. RIO and Creative Labs actually got a year's warning when the device initially launched on Apple only: The vast majority of Windows users returned the device the following January after the first Christmas buying season. But neither company could see the obvious approach of a massive new player and the result is now history. Read on at Designtechnica.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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