iPod Shuffle Sales Surge 50 Percent, But Why?

A post on AppleInsider today reports that iPod Shuffle sales have surged, increasing 50 percent in the week following the launch of the revamped model.

Citing Barclay's analyst Ben Reitzes and an NPD report, AI reports that sales of iPod Shuffles grew 51 percent the week of March 21st, the first full week the third-generation players were on the market and continued to grow the following week, rising another 10 percent.

As the company’s cheapest iPod, the Shuffle has always been popular. That said, we’re not huge fans of the new design, so we can’t believe there’s been such a huge jump in sales.

Call us new-age, but we were glad to leave behind the black or grey options of the 1990s and move into the full on, technicolor millennium. Why did Apple take away the rainbow of different colors for the Shuffle? Adding that to the fact that the controls are now incorporated into the headphones (meaning you can’t use your own instead of the pair that come in the box) and the thing looks like a cheap cigarette lighter, we really miss the old design.

Retizes did note that NPD doesn't include sales from the company's online store or any iPod distribution points outside the United States, so the overall number of sales still remains a mystery.