Apple, BMW Develop iPod Music Device for Car Radios (Update2)
June 17 (Bloomberg) --
Apple Computer Inc. and automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke AG are developing a device that will let users listen to songs from their iPod music players through the radios of BMWs and Minis.
The adaptors will be available in vehicles sold in the U.S., Eckhard Wannieck, a BMW spokesman at the carmaker's Munich headquarters, said in an interview. He wouldn't elaborate.
A deal with BMW is likely to be the first of several pairings between Apple and carmakers as the computer maker, once mainly known for its Macintosh PCs, tries to sell more iPods. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, in Europe this week to open iTunes online music stores, said he is in talks with automakers he wouldn't name.
``It's just the tip of the iceberg,'' said Jim Grossman, a portfolio manager at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which manages $64 billion. ``The market opportunity for people who would like to play iPods in their cars is huge.''
Apple's Web site touts a $39.95 auto kit made by Compton, California-based Belkin Corp. that allows an iPod to play on a car stereo.
A built-in product to hook iPods to car radios would be more sophisticated and have better quality than existing products, making them a more attractive option, Grossman said.
U.S Market
BMW will release details on models and prices in coming weeks, Wannieck said. The devices will allow users to control their iPod players in the same way they would control the radio.
The U.S. is the largest market for BMW. The company sold 276,869 of its namesake cars and SUVs and Mini compact cars in the U.S. in 2003.
Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple rose 7 cents to $32.81 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares had risen 17 percent this month ahead of the company's annual developer conference, a forum Jobs often uses to announce new products and partnerships, said Shannon Cross, an analyst for Cross Research, in a note to clients.
Shares of BMW rose 6 cents to 35.36 euros. They have fallen 3.7 percent this year.
Calls to Apple spokespeople Steve Dowling and Natalie Sequeira weren't returned.
Carmakers
IPod sales climbed eightfold to 807,000 units in the second quarter, helping underpin Jobs's efforts to broaden Apple's products beyond the Macintosh computer.
The player, which sells for as much as $499 and can store as many as 10,000 songs, generated more revenue than the iMac desktop personal computer. The iPod produced sales of $264 million, compared with the iMac's $252 million.
Apple captured 78 percent of the market for MP3 music players in U.S. retail stores during March, according to Stephen Baker, director of research for the NPD Group research firm of Port Washington, New York.
The iPod mini, which retails for $249 and holds 1,000 songs, was so popular in the U.S. after its February release the company delayed introducing it outside the country.
Jobs on Monday said the company will introduce a music product for cars later this year. This week he opened the iTunes online music store in the U.K., France and Germany. Those countries, plus the U.S., account for more than 60 percent of the global music market, Jobs said.
Apple plans to start the service in other European countries by October, Jobs said.
``We think we have the most popular places to listen to music covered,'' Jobs said.
