Apple have confirmed that their iPod Mini digital music player will finally have a global launch on 24 Jul - they will sell in the UK for £179. The economy version of the popular Apple MP3 player was launched in the US in Feb, but its launch elsewhere was delayed because Hitachi, who make the miniature hard disk in the iPod Mini, were unable to keep up with even American consumer demand.
Announcing the global launch of the player, Apple boss Steve Jobs told reporters: "The iPod mini has been a smash hit in the US, and we're thrilled to finally be able to offer it to music lovers the world over".
Meanwhile Apple's VP of Hardware, Greg Joswiak, warned that while the company was working hard to produce as many iPod Minis as possible he still expected demand to exceed supply in the first few months of global sales: "We expect demand to be huge. I'd recommend people get in line early. Supply will keep up with demand by September".
Apple still dominate the digital music market, but the competition is eager to gain ground as the sector grows into the mainstream. Sony will perhaps pose the greatest threat to Apple as they aggressively market their digital Walkman and Connect download service. Apple have already criticised Sony for marketing their cheaper player on the basis that it holds more tracks. That is possible not because the player has more hard disk capacity (in fact it has less) but because Sony's music software saves music in such a way that each track has a much smaller file size. Apple argue that means Sony players play music at a lesser quality to Apple players, and therefore cannot be compared on capacity alone.