Apple's iPod Nano Flies Off Shelves

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Apple Computer Inc.'s pencil-thin iPod nano is flying off store shelves a week after its debut, with electronics chains reporting sellouts of the $199 model and waiting lists online — and a small but loud chorus of early buyers complaining about scratches.

The nano, which replaces the discontinued iPod mini, is the width of a No. 2 pencil and less than a quarter-inch thick, holding 500 or 1,000 songs on flash memory with no moving parts. Apple unveiled it alongside the Motorola ROKR, the first phone to play iTunes songs.

At a San Francisco electronics store, the 2-gigabyte model sold out within days. "It's the hottest music player we've carried since the first iPod," a manager said. "People put them next to a pencil and just stare."

The first wave of complaints has already arrived: owners on Apple forums and gadget sites say the nano's glossy black or white face scratches with alarming ease — some claim from little more than pocket lint or the included carrying sleeve.

Apple has not commented publicly. Analysts say the fuss is unlikely to dent demand heading into the holidays, when the company typically sells a third of its iPods.

The launch caps a remarkable run: the iPod line holds roughly three-quarters of the U.S. market for digital music players, and the iTunes store has sold more than 600 million songs — a legal-download business the record labels once swore could not exist.

The nano's arrival comes as phone makers circle the music business. The ROKR E1 holds just 100 songs — a cap critics say protects the iPod — while carriers and handset makers promise music phones of their own for the holidays.

Rivals continue to chase the Cupertino, Calif., company. Creative Technology, Sony and a dozen smaller players all have flash players out, but none has yet cracked the iPod's grip on both the market and the culture.

"It's not the features," an analyst said. "It's the thing you pull out of your jeans pocket that makes people ask what it is."