Apple, 7-11 flogging 'shuffle'


The Taipei Times reports that Apple Taiwan and 7-11 have partnered to market and sell the iPod shuffle. Of the convenience retailer's 3,700 stores, 250 outlets will take part and, at least initially, 500 of Apple's newest, hottest-selling music players are available.

"We had hundreds of inquiry calls [Wednesday] alone, as soon as we started selling the product in our outlets," said Vivian Hsu, public relations specialist, 7-11.

Last August, when the iPod mini was introduced here, Apple also partnered with 7-11 for the initial sales push, handing off sales to the channel thereafter. This year's shuffle promo will likely follow the same model.

Asustek, the manufacturer of the iPod shuffle, according to the report, expects to ship 5-million units this year.

Editor's note: In terms of marketing impact, last year's promo went very, very well--the buzz and interest were tremendous. Although sales figures for that promo weren't released, this reoccurrence indicates it was a success.