Apple Inc (AAPL)

[roni]

iPod talk and survey results on buying plans

"We continue to believe demand outstrips supply for iPods and that Apple is doing the best it can to supply both its own and traditional retail stores," analyst Rebecca Runkle wrote in a research note released to clients on Friday. The analyst recently conducted a survey of 2,500 US consumers and found that they plan to buy more iPod and related products than any other electronics category.

"To hone in on this point, more people plan to buy an iPod this holiday season than a cell phone," the analyst said. "Also interesting, more people plan to buy iTunes gift cards this season than non-iPod branded MP3 players."

Of all the consumers planning to purchase an iPod this holiday season, only 4- percent said they would purchase another brand of MP3 player if a store was out of their desired model.

"We think this speaks wonders on iPod brand loyalty and ultimately ties consumers into an expanding portfolio of Apple products," Runkle said. The analyst notes that: "Of the current MP3 player owners planning to buy an iPod this holiday, 40-percent currently own a non-iPod MP3 player -- a sign of additional iPod market share traction."

Also

As further evidence that the iPod brand is drawing consumers to the Mac, the survey also revealed that iPod owners are three times as likely to seriously consider the purchase of a Mac as non-iPod owners.