Apple has claimed that spokeswoman Natalie Kerris was quoted wrongly in a recent report on the lifespan of the iPod published by the Chicago Tribune. The report claimed Kerris had said that the iPod is designed to last for 4 years, but Kerris said she told the reporter that the iPod was designed to last "for years."
An Apple spokeswoman, Natalie Kerris, said iPods have a failure rate of less than 5 percent, which she said is "fairly low" compared with other consumer electronics. "The vast majority of our customers are extremely happy with their iPods," she said, adding that an iPod is designed to last four years.
The report posed the question as to whether portable media players are constructed well enough to withstand everyday wear and tear, and notes that it is virtually impossible to determine how widespread problems with the iPod are due to Apple's retention of statistical information on such issues.
According to a study published by Solutions Research Group, the iPod's marketshare has increased from 53% to 68% from 2005 to 2006.