The iPod in 2007: Year in Review

The iPhone and a new name

The first big announcement of 2007 was not an iPod. At Macworld Expo in San Francisco on 9 January Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, which combined a mobile phone, an internet communicator and a widescreen iPod with touch controls; it reached US shops on 29 June at US$499 for 4 GB or US$599 for 8 GB. The same day Apple Computer, Inc. became Apple Inc., and the keynote premiered two iPod + iTunes commercials set to "Flathead" by The Fratellis. On 30 January the iPod shuffle gained blue, pink, green and orange versions, still at US$79.

100 million iPods and iTunes Plus

The 100 millionth iPod was reported sold on 9 April, about five and a half years after the first, with more than 2.5 billion songs sold through the iTunes Store. On 30 May the store launched iTunes Plus: EMI recordings without DRM, encoded at 256 kbps AAC, for US$1.29 a track. Song sales passed three billion by 31 July, and on 17 October iTunes Plus, by then more than two million tracks, dropped to 99 cents. In June an advertisement showed Paul McCartney performing "Dance Tonight".

Four iPods on 5 September

One event in San Francisco on 5 September renewed the whole range. The full-size iPod became the iPod classic, with an all-metal case and Cover Flow, at US$249 for 80 GB and US$349 for 160 GB. The third-generation iPod nano gained a two-inch, 320 × 240 screen for video, at US$149 for 4 GB and US$199 for 8 GB. The first iPod touch added Wi-Fi and a 3.5-inch multi-touch screen at US$299 for 8 GB and US$399 for 16 GB, with the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store free to use in participating US Starbucks locations. The 1 GB iPod shuffle kept its US$79 price but changed colours and added a (PRODUCT) RED edition.

Advertising and the holiday quarter

An iPod nano commercial using Feist's "1234" helped the song climb to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, and from 28 October an iPod touch spot based on a student's fan video, set to "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex" by CSS, aired in the United States. Holiday sales reached 22,121,000 iPods in the three months to 29 December, a five per cent rise on the year before.