MP3 hardware player sales show triple digit growth

Even though MP3 players have been around for quite some time, the sales figures still haven�t reached their peak. It is safe to say that the market penetration of MP3-able products has been steady but slow. But now it seems that digitally compressed, and possibly digitally distributed or shared, music is an acceptable media and the consumers are realizing its full potential.

Headset CD/MP3 player sales continue to rise in the triple digits, which helps push the audio category as well. In June, unit sales were up 202 percent, compared to the same period in 2002, to total sales of 547,000 units and dollar sales were up 104 percent to a total of $27 million.
...
"The growth in MP3 has been monumental in 2003, with it clearly being a purchase criteria for consumers seeking on the go audio," said Sean Wargo, director of industry analysis. "The great news is that this trend has only just begun, now that the format is moving into the mainstream with the new profit based online music services."

Music Industry News Network

Written by: Lasse Penttinen @ 18 Aug 2003 12:18

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10 comments

A_Klingon

But I thought, with a few exceptions, that the new profit-based online music services all used either wma, or some other non-mp3 format? What paid services are using freely burnable-to-disc mp3s? (I suppose there are a few).

I think all the portable mp3-success comes from people ripping from music cds, compressing and then burning to cd-r. I know that's what I do.

Perhaps the success of mp3-portable sales has more to do with successful P2P-mp3 downloads than any paid service you can think of.

19.8.2003 02:11 #1

Ghostdog

Just today my friend brought his MP3 capable CD player along with two computer speakers to school, we spent the break listening to music. The CD he had with him contained 133 songs, and it wasn�t even full!

"Real" MP3 players would be really cool if they could pack as much as a MP3-CD.
I still love my MD though.

19.8.2003 06:59 #2

tinfoil

Aren't iPods "Real"?

I do wonder how the trend towards proprietary, DRM-enabled devices will affect sales.

Digital Media and Music News
http://music.tinfoil.net

19.8.2003 09:32 #3

Ghostdog

Damn, sorry about that. I forgot about the iPod.
But I was thinking more about devices using memory, and how expensive that is, instead of players like the iPod.

19.8.2003 12:38 #4

seanbyrne

I have had a Goodmans CDMP-370 player which plays MP3's off data CDs for over a year now. At 128kbps, a 700MB CD holds aprox. 200 songs. For near CD-quality audio (LAME at ~192kbps VBR) a CD holds roughly 120 songs. Very handy for long journeys. Just don't forget to bring spare batteries ;-)

Sony have a CD player that claims to hold 30 hours using Atrac3plus, but I read on forums that the low bitrate of 48kbps it uses sounds like stereo AM radio. Also, the Atrack3plus tracks are DRM protected after encoding, though the player does claim a 150 hour battery life.

19.8.2003 13:56 #5

tinfoil

I own an iPod, a no-name CD-MP3 player, and a flash-based player. I find none of these as convenient as a bog-standard CD.

Digital Media and Music News
http://music.tinfoil.net

19.8.2003 14:37 #6

A_Klingon

I am simply in love with this thing:

Uses 3" mini-cds, sounds wonderful, and it's so small it will fit easily in your shirt pocket.

MP3 only! (or mini red-book cd if I want to make any). I have no need or desire for Sony's expensive memory sticks. NO pesky DRM-crippled wma file trash! The discs, at 185 --> 200 MB each, can easily hold 3 full downloaded albums, which I get FREE from P2P.

That's what's driving the sales of these units - free mp3s and self-made rips converted to mp3. (Not any proprietary stuff). And yes, tinfoil, I feel very very sorry for anyone who didn't read the fine print and went out and bought a stooopid DRM-inhibited device. If it is indeed a 'trend', I'm not falling for it for one second.

-- Mike --

19.8.2003 16:08 #7

vudoo

People will just use Audio Record Wizard if they subscribe to services like Real Networks Rhapsidy. You can just capture the stream going to the sound card. Once you just tell it to record it to Mp3 you are all set to burn what you will and your Mp3 CD player will have lots of tunes. DRM is hackible and the only people who don't know how to do it are the real lamers who don't know much about electronics. These people are the suckers of society.

Voodoohippie

24.8.2003 16:53 #8

Ghostdog

Quote: DRM is hackible and the only people who don't know how to do it are the real lamers who don't know much about electronics. These people are the suckers of society. The majority of earths population would say the opposite. It�s the geeks who know how to do stuff like that.

25.8.2003 04:19 #9

vudoo

You can Download Audio Record Wizard can't you? You can click config can't you and then click Mp3 and set the bit rate to 192 can't you? Then set the imput to STREAM from sound card. Just press record quickly after you click the song to play. It really is not that hard. Also you may want to Download ES5 and use the p2p app and join the forums. There is lots of content and if you prove trusted you'll see lots of solutions.

Voodoohippie

25.8.2003 17:06 #10

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