????每一家科技公司都有一款堪稱代表作的產品。比如微軟公司（Microsoft）的Windows操作系統，又比如谷歌公司（Google）的搜索引擎。而對于曾把“電腦”二字放入公司名中的蘋果（Apple）來說，它的代表作則是iPod。沒錯，就是iPod，而不是iPhone，不是iPad，也不是這家公司未來會推出的任何以“i”打頭的設備。

????為什么？

????要回答這個問題，得追溯到2001年。當時，蘋果聯合創始人史蒂夫?喬布斯還牢牢地控制著公司大權，并推出了重新設計的新款Mac電腦，以維系蘋果公司的經營。顯然，蘋果公司當時的處境還不算太糟，但卻苦于缺乏一款拿得出手的“明星產品”。iPod的出現改變了這一切。這款音樂播放器一經推出就迅速風靡全球，蘋果公司的業績也一下子重回上升通道。2003年6月，iPod銷量突破了100萬臺，半年后銷量達到200萬臺，上市三年銷量就達到了1,000萬臺。

????當時，市場人士都在預測iPod還能創造多大的銷量。但隨著時間的推移，所有的疑問都集中到一點上，即iPod的熱銷勢頭會不會、而不是何時會停下來。在上市的頭十年，iPod的全球銷量達到了3億臺。喬布斯在談到iPod時曾表示：“如果說有哪一款產品成就了蘋果的話，那就是iPod?！边@款結合了iTunes的音樂播放器徹底改變了音樂產業。的確，自從有了iPod，消費者幾乎就無需再去購買CD。走在大街上，帶著耳機聽音樂的人隨處可見，這就是一股由iPod帶來的新潮流。也正是iPod確立了蘋果和喬布斯的標志性地位。

????但隨后，情況卻有所改變。2007年，蘋果公司推出了iPhone手機。此后，iPod的市場影響力就逐漸下降。盡管市面上iPod仍有銷售，但卻處在了iPhone手機的陰影之下。隨著iPhone的熱賣，iPod的銷量開始出現下滑。消費者也意識到，iPhone既是手機，也能夠用作音樂播放器，因此就沒有必要再去花錢購買Nano、Shuffle或iPod Touch了。

????iPod的銷售業績急劇下降，也很快在蘋果的財報上顯現出來。在今年截至6月30日的財季中，iPod的銷售額為10.6億美元，僅占蘋果總營收的3%。與去年同期相比，iPod的銷售額下滑了20%，。此間，iPod的銷量為680萬臺，下降了10%。這與2006年的情況有著天壤之別。2006年第四財季，蘋果共售出870萬臺iPod，實現營收16億美元，占蘋果當年總營收的三分之一，這個數字與今年的區區3%形成了鮮明對比。

????Every technology company has a product that can be said to define it. For Microsoft (MSFT), it's Windows. For Google (GOOG), it's Google Search. And for Apple (AAPL), a company that once had the word "computer" in its name, it's the iPod. That's right, the iPod, not the iPhone or iPad or any future i-device coming along.

????Why?

????To answer, let's go back in time to 2001. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was firmly in charge, delivering newly redesigned Macs that were helping the company tread water. It was clear that Apple was in better shape, but it hadn't yet found a panacea. Until the iPod. Of course, the music player became a near-instant hit around the world, and suddenly Apple was back on the upswing. (This story also became canonical business hagiography.) Apple sold its one-millionth iPod in June 2003 and hit 2 million just six months later. Within three years of its launch, sales had hit 10 million units.

????At the time, the market wondered just how many more sales the iPod could generate. But as time went on, the conversation changed to one that centered on speculation over if -- not when -- the iPod train would stop. In its first 10 years of availability, Apple sold 300 million iPod units worldwide. "If ever there was a product that catalyzed Apple's reason for being, it's this," Jobs said once of the iPod. The music player, coupled with iTunes, revolutionized the music industry. Indeed, consumers largely stopped buying CDs. And when walking around town, it was hard to find anyone listening to music that didn't have white earbuds having from their heads. A culture formed around the iPod. And it was one that transformed Apple and Steve Jobs to iconic status.

????But then, something changed. Starting in 2007 with the launch of the iPhone, Apple's iPod started its slow descent into obscurity. The many iPods were still available, of course, but they lived in the iPhone's shadow. And as that shadow grew larger, sales started to falter. Apple consumers realized that the iPhone could double as an iPod, so spending extra cash on a Nano, Shuffle, or iPod Touch, made little sense.

????The iPod's steep decline has become readily apparent on the company's financial statements. During the three-month period ended June 30, iPod sales reached $1.06 billion, representing just 3% of Apple's total revenue. iPod sales were down a whopping 20% compared to the same period in 2011. Overall, 6.8 million iPods were sold during the period -- a 10% decline. (It was a much different story in 2006. In Apple's fiscal fourth quarter in 2006, the company sold 8.7 million iPods and generated $1.6 billion in revenue. That tally made up one-third of the company's total sales – a far cry from this year's 3% contribution.)