These guys think Apple has a win-win with the new iPod Mini. Wrong.

Here's why: A true win-win for Apple would change the game. Right now, it's zero-sum: either you buy an iPod, or a Mini, but not both. Basically, the two are substitutes; in a win-win strategy, they would be complements. Better yet, in a platform strategy, they would be what I sometimes call hypercomplements - goods whose value nonlinearly increases when the other is around.

It doesn't matter to Apple that you're choosing Apple, because, as I've pointed, it doesn't really have any competitors - sure, there are people making MP3 players, but there are no realistic substitutes for the iPod. So you have to choose Apple, pretty much, unless you're willing to take a serious hit in some dimension of product value.

A real win-win strategy would have been aimed at getting people to buy both iPods. Sound stupid? I don't think so - you can't really take the big one to the gym, jogging, in rainy London weather, etc. There's plenty of room there for complementarity to be built.