Portable media player market set to boom: Study
By JACK KAPICA
Globe and Mail Update
The next hot toys in high technology will be portable entertainment. So says market-research company In-Stat/MDR.
According to their research, called Handheld Audio/Video Players: Audio, Video, and More, released Thursday, current market trends suggest that as entertainment — movies, music — increasingly moves to digital form, sales of handheld audio-video players are expected to grow consistently over the next five years.
Known by the general name of personal media players (PMPs) or personal video players (PVPs), most of these handheld devices include audio, video and imaging. Some also act as portable personal video recorders (PVRs), recording directly from the TV to the device.
PMPs support a variety of data formats, although they offer varying levels of support.
This segment of the market should grow as much as 700 per cent 2004, and 179 per cent through 2008, In-Stat says, and PMC devices will represent about 25 per cent of shipments this year.
The company said that the earliest devices emerged in late 2003, and by the end of that year, 30 per cent of consumers were already familiar with them.
"Recent devices have had high price tags and are most useful to consumers who already have a lot of their own content," In-Stat/MDR analyst Cindy McCurley said in a statement.
"One of the critical needs for success in this product segment is the availability of content. Today, consumers have some content of their own, but many in the industry feel that the real value of these products will emerge from widespread use of downloadable video content."
This year, In-Stat predicts these products will primarily attract those who are comfortable with computerized devices and who are known as early adopters, even though manufacturers are specifically targeting commuters, travellers, and people wanting to entertain their children.
Ms. McCurley said it might take some time before the market develops the demand that many electronics manufacturers desire.
In-Stat also predicts that the capacity of the devices will increase as access to content improves, and component prices decrease. Currently, most such devices are using a 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch 20GB drive and are based either on Microsoft's Portable Media Centre (PMC) platform or a Linux platform. Some PMP products depend heavily on a personal computer to operate, while others do not require use of a PC, and the difference may sway some users' choices.
Additionally, the firm finds that most current or upcoming products will be priced in the between $400 and $600 (U.S.). The actual sale price is not expected to decrease quickly over the forecasted period.
