If you want to buy an iPod for Christmas, better hit the shops before December, writes Jamie Smyth, Technology Reporter.

The sight of Christmas decorations going up in Henry Street before Halloween is enough to frighten even the most enthusiastic shopaholic. But the early arrival of the festive shopping season may just be appropriate for one particular item on the wishlist of thousands of teenagers and young professionals.

"If you want an iPod for a present you'd better get it before the start of December," says an assistant in the 3G electronics store. "And that's not sales talk," he adds quickly while showing me a pink Mini iPod that is particularly popular among women.

There is no doubt Apple wants to add a bit more "hype" to its iPod gravy train in the run up to sales season. But there is certainly no doubting the runaway success of the iPod music player made by Apple, the US firm that made its name for developing stylish and technically accomplished computers.

Six million iPods have been sold since the product launched two years ago this week, and more importantly, a third of these iPods have been sold over the past three months.

"We continue to have very high demand and are ramping up production considerably," says Mr Greg Joswiack, vice president of iPod worldwide product marketing. "We will do our best and work hard to ensure supply."

However, Apple Ireland has admitted that it cannot guarantee that it will meet demand for its iPod due to shortages of the hard disk components needed to manufacture the iPod. And there is no sign of a slowdown in demand anytime soon, with research group IDC expecting the market for digital music players to grow from 12.5 million units in 2003 to over 50 million units in 2008.

"The iPod has been called the Sony Walkman of the 21st century and it is estimated Sony sold 200 to 300 million Walkmans," says Mr Joswiack, who puts the iPod's success down to Apple's ability to deliver the best possible product to its customers.

Apple has benefited from being the first company in the digital market but even a causal glance at the alternatives in the 3G store shows it still looks like the coolest product.

The sleek aluminium casing and selection of colours for the Mini iPod makes it a hit with the fashion conscious. But Apple's skills at tightly integrating software and hardware and its addition of extra storage capacity with the iPod earn it kudos from the tech community.

Apple, perhaps conscious of its early success in the computer market before losing its way, is also making big efforts at continuing to stay ahead of the market.

This week it launched a new Photo iPod, capable of storing and displaying a range of photographs, months ahead of analysts expectations. Apple also ended weeks of speculation by teaming up with Bono and the Edge to launch a U2 Special Edition iPod.

It also penned an agreement with the Universal Music Group to work together on future digital music products.

"One of the things we wanted to highlight through these agreements is the connection Apple has with the music industry. We don't stand apart from the music industry, we are part of it," says Mr Joswiack. "U2 understand the industry and know how to move it forward... the launch of the first digital box set of music is an example of how we innovate."

The boxset of more than 400 U2 tracks will become available on Apple's iTunes music website from late November, although Apple has still not extended the site for use by Irish people yet.

Mr Joswick would not comment on the likely launch date of an Irish iTunes site. He also dismissed speculation that Apple would pre-load its iPods with music tracks because of the technical difficulty of synchronising the iPod with a user's computer.

In any event, Irish consumers shouldn't bet on getting their hands on the new special edition U2 iPod or the Photo iPod before Christmas as demand is likely to outstrip supply and hardcore fans will probably have pre-ordered.

"Our view is that most fans are very excited about it - it's a great excuse for those that don't already have an iPod to buy one," said Mr Joel Tanner, owner of U2 fanzine interference.com.

Others are dubious about the likely success of the U2 iPod, which will cost a hefty €389 in the Republic and has little to distinguish it apart from the band's signatures engraved on the iPod. But there is no doubting the continued success of the iPod despite the launch of a range of copycats by firms such as Creative Labs and i-river.

And this success is beginning to transform Apple's business and even earn it kudos on Wall Street, where it had had a reputation for underachieving.

In April 2004 Merrill Lynch reinstated analyst coverage of Apple noting in its initial statement: "We think Apple has gotten its act together in focusing on core markets, building a mature management team and, most important, innovating again. People will pay more for Porsches, but they have to perform." This week the bank raised its estimates for the company because it managed to launch its iPod Photo earlier than expected.

Crucially, the firm also said Apple believed it was seeing an iPod "halo effect" on the Macintosh computer business and is gaining share in some markets.

"Certainly for a lot of our customers the iPod is their first time with an Apple product. It is often a completely new experience for those who are used to the PC world because of the much closer integration between Apple software and hardware," says Apple's Mr Koswiak. "So if we are delivering a great experience we believe people will consider our products when they are replacing PCs in the future."

Bearing in mind Apple's computer business supplies just a fraction of global supplies, this is a tall order. But few people will write off Apple chief executive and industry veteran, Mr Steve Jobs. After all, who knows where Apple's partnership with those four elder statesmen of the music industry from U2 will lead it?

What is an iPod?

IPods are digital music players that can store and play up to 15,000 tracks that have been either downloaded from the Web or copied from a person's existing record or CD collection.

IPods come in a range of shapes and sizes varying from the small Mini iPod (smaller than a pack of cards) to the slightly larger Photo iPod, which was released earlier this week.

This new iPod can also store up to 25,000 digital photos and represents Apple's latest attempt to remain ahead of the market for music players or MP3 players. The price of iPods ranges from €249 to €659. But beware: the trademark white headphones on iPods are a target for muggers.