The iPod in 2005: Year in Review
A player without a screen
Macworld Expo in San Francisco opened the iPod year on 11 January with the iPod shuffle, a flash-memory iPod with no display, priced at US$99 or US$149. A commercial for it, set to "Jerk It Out" by Caesars, was online the following day. On 23 February the iPod mini reached its second generation, adding a 6 GB model and cutting the 4 GB price to US$199, while a slimmer 30 GB iPod photo arrived at US$349.
Colour screens and podcasts
On 28 June the separate iPod photo line came to an end: the iPod and iPod photo were combined into a single range of white players, every one with a colour screen. The same day iTunes 4.9 brought podcasts into the application, with a directory of more than 3,000 free programmes whose new episodes downloaded automatically and synced to the iPod. On 18 July the iTunes Music Store passed 500 million song downloads, and on 4 August it opened in Japan, where customers bought more than a million songs in the first four days.
The nano and video
On 7 September the iPod nano succeeded the iPod mini. The flash-based player, which Apple said was thinner than a standard #2 pencil, cost US$199 for 2 GB or US$249 for 4 GB. At the same event Apple, Motorola and Cingular launched the Motorola ROKR, presented as the first mobile phone with iTunes. On 12 October came the fifth-generation iPod, the first able to play video, and iTunes 6, which sold music videos, Pixar shorts and television episodes; customers bought more than a million videos in less than 20 days.
Sales and advertising
More than 15 million iPods had been sold by the end of March. In the quarter to 24 September Apple shipped 6,451,000, and in the quarter to 31 December 14,043,000, 207 per cent more than a year earlier. Advertising stayed largely with the silhouette campaign, which won a Grand Effie in June: "Rollerskating", set to Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc.", aired from 7 May, followed a week later by "Pop-Lock" with Daft Punk's "Technologic". The nano was launched with a spot showing only hands and the player, and the video iPod with U2 performing "Original of the Species" live and an Eminem commercial set to "Lose Yourself".