Massive boom predicted in MP3 player market

Massive boom predicted in MP3 player market
A report by market advisory organization International Data Corp (IDC) states that the portable compressed audio player market or MP3 player market will see a giant rise in sales, especially in the portable flash player section which is expected to ascend up to 124m units in 2009. Last year, the figure was recorded to be 26.4m.

This surge in portable flash player will possibly take place due to the ever declining flash memory costs, paid media downloads, better customer consciousness and not least of all the growing demand for portable MP3 players. Moreover, flash memory utilizes the rewritable chip microprocessor and is devoid of moving components which facilitates producing smaller, portable mechanisms like Apple's iPod Nano.

Great video features for music video playback is also likely to play a big hand in the mounting demand for portable flash players. Like wise, even the marketplace for hard drive portable jukeboxes is expected to rise at the global compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.5 per cent till 2009.

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However this surging trend could be cut down courtesy the average selling prices (ASPs) of portable flash players exceeding €166 all through the predicted time span and also their great capacity. In fact, the peak memory of portable flash players is likely to expand from 1GB in 2004 to 8GB in 2006 and a massive 16GB towards the end of 2007.

IDC report has segregated the MP3 player market into four chief groups; three of them have been classified as portable, home and automotive audio-focused devices.

The fourth type of the compressed audio player market comprises the tools capable of being compatible with compressed audio like the DVD players, mobile phones and gaming instruments.

In fact, this fourth classification is nothing but a good stand-in for the first three and is likely to be at the top even after the predicted period universally. By 2009 itself, the number of pieces sold in this category will be close to 700m with the revenue running into €95bn.

According to the IDC study, all four groups are progressing with varied degrees of success due to the effect of various market forces on them.

The total universal earnings and units sold with all the four MP3 player categories combined are predicted to be €121bn and 945.5m respectively by the end of the forecasted period.

"Demand for portable MP3 players is booming” says IDC analyst Susan Kevorkian pointing out that increasingly customers are getting used to these fashionable gadgets and their constantly refined feature sets.