Japan iPod Mini Color Popularity Rankings Portable AV / Other Posted by Harvey on Jul 24, 2004 - 11:55 AM |
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It seems like everything in Japan is some how related to a fashion. This article on BCN shows that the latest iPod Mini is no exception. Read more to find out which iPod Mini colors are all the rage in Japan! I wonder if they did the same kind of ranking with the iMacs when they came out as well? iPod Mini sales start July 24. Reservations are pouring into shops, and the iPod Mini is already reaching the top of sales rankings. The iPod Mini is not only popular as a portable audio player, but also as a fashion item. Driving this popularity is the fact that the sleek aluminum body is available in five color variations. The ability to chose the color makes it attractive as a fashion accessory to consumers. BCN totaled the POS data of 13 companies, and 568 stores to get iPod Mini reservation data to create this "BCN Ranking" on popular iPod Mini colors. As you can see from the graph, silver is on top with 34.3%. However, unexpectedly, blue is at a very close second. It's a rare color in digital equipment, but the delicate pastel tone is attractive to both men and women. Next, green and pink are at about 15%, and gold is coming in last. [Side note, which is funny because my Japanese friends over at WebMC [1] saw an early iPod Mini in Tokyo and his happened to be gold.]  These results are from the 13 days from July 8th to July 20th, immediately after the iPod Mini announcement. The changes in position day by day are especially noticeable in this graph.  Silver is at the top of the ranking. You can see blue jumping up to the top occasionally. Also green and pink change positions almost daily. It certianly seems that iPod Mini fans are really taking the color of their devices into consideration before making a purchase. If you check out Apple Japan [2] webpage, you can see that they have a Color Lifestyle section [3]. [I don't see this much attention drawn to the color on the Apple US site. This is a good example of how marketing techniques can change depending on region. The Japanese sites even has interviews with people talking about why they chose the color they did.] According to this page, silver is a cool color which matches the business scene. "The silver iPod Mini is cool, conservative, traditional, and respecting habits of stout romanticists." [rough translation!] Speaking of which, the BMW crusing down to the golf course at top speeds seem to have a high percentage of silver paint jobs among them as well. We can see how this could be considered the cool color for the business elite. One of the reasons that blue is in second could be that the silver color commonly has a large presence in digital equipment. The site says that blue is, "Probably fit for the casual and playful at heart." The iPod Mini's compact and light-weight body seems to be a good fit for the casual fashionable person.The site says that green is "Not decorative, but assertive. Gentle, but with vitality. For those types of casual people." Pink is for "the energetic and active young woman who coordinates." Both colors are drawing the emphasizing the divide between the high speed and are more fit for the slow, casual life style it seems. Gold, with its popularity gradually increasing from its slow opening, is the color for the indivdiual. "Gold matches a posture of confidence. For the person whom fully knows how to show his charm and has the confidence to break routine patterns." Japanese are hesitant to pick this color, but in the US there are many sport sedans that have a touch of gold in them. This is color for the independent adult. Inspired by:http://www.computernews.com/DailyNews/2004/07/200407230600936392862020.htm [4] Apple Japan iPod Mini Lifestyle Homepage:http://www.apple.co.jp/ipodmini/lifestyle/ [5] |
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This article is from TechJapan http://www.techjapan.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.techjapan.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=429 Links in this article [1] http://webmc.seesaa.net/article/327227.html [2] http://www.apple.co.jp/itunes/index.html [3] http://www.apple.co.jp/ipodmini/lifestyle/ [4] http://www.computernews.com/DailyNews/2004/07/200407230600936392862020.htm [5] http://www.apple.co.jp/ipodmini/lifestyle/ |