Apple posted it's second quarter results for 2011 yesterday and smashed records with a revenue of over $24 billion. No surprises there. However, there was a red spot in this northbound graph - a 17% decrease in iPod sales.
While iPad sales are up with the launch of version 2, the Mac posted a 28% improvement over the previous quarter as well, selling 3.76 million units.
So, is the competition that's killing the iPod coming from within Apple? Results would prove so, with the iPod functionality on the iPhone and iPads leaving fewer takers for yet another portable device dedicated to music. Outside factors like the Android platform boom, the rise of the Windows Phone 7, and the move towards devices that do it all may also have contributed to the iPod's waning star.
The silver lining for this cloud looming darkly on Apple's horizon is that the iPod remains, by far, the dominant MP3 player in the market as emphasized by the fact that Microsoft had to kill it's competing Zune HD player.