MP3 Player Market to Reach 286 Million Units by 2010

In-Stat: Rapidly growing worldwide market for Flash-based and Hard Disk Drive (HDD)-based players will jump from 140 million units in 2005 to 286 million by 2010. Drivers for this market include falling price points, the availability of legitimate subscription and pay-per-download online music sites, increasing Flash memory capacities, and enhanced functionality,. Apple continues to dominate the market for MP3 players, particularly in the US. Apple competitors continue to face significant challenges, such as a constrained Flash memory supply, device and software integration, and the ‘cool factor’ associated with Apple’s iPod line of products.

• 49% of MP3 player owners own an Apple iPod.

• Sales of low-end, Flash-based players were especially strong in 2005, particularly in Asian markets where some players are priced as low as $25.

• HDD-based models will continue to evolve into multimedia entertainment devices capable of audio, video, and imaging playback.

Portable Digital Audio Players: Market Growth Exceeds Expectations ( Publ 20060501