MP3 Players Hot, Getting Hotter
Mon December 15, 2003 02:13 AM ET
By Paul Bond
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - U.S. shipments of portable MP3 music players will reach 3.5 million units this year, almost doubling last year's total, according to a report from Jupiter Research.
The consulting firm forecasts a 50% year-on-year growth rate in 2004.
The sales pace of MP3 players is expected to mirror that of the VCR, which is not nearly as quick a growth story as the DVD player has enjoyed. But sales of DVD players have peaked in the United States and are expected to fall to slightly more than 10 million units by 2007 from 25 million units last year. By that time, MP3 players will outsell DVD players annually.
Do the math, and all those annual sales of MP3 players will add up to an installed base of 26.1 million units by the end of 2006, which Jupiter considers "critical mass," as the devices will be in 15%-20% of American homes. By 2008, the installed base should be above 45 million.
Jupiter bases its prediction on the assumption of a three-year average life span for MP3 units.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
