e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[Tenderloin]

Digital content trend drives portable player market
25 Aug 2004

The market for portable audio-video players is expected to grow by 700 percent this year, driven primarily by people who already have a lot of music and video files stored in their own PCs, a market research firm said on August 20, 2004.
By the end of the year, the market for devices known as personal media players or personal video players is expected to reach $22.5 million, In-Stat/MDR said. Year-to-year, the market is expected to post a 160 percent compound annual growth rate through 2008.

Most users today are early adopters willing to buy the expensive devices to take their own PC-stored digital content with them, Cindy Wolf McCurley, In-Stat analyst and author of a recent report on the market, said. Most users are commuters, travelers or people who want to entertain their children on the road.

How fast the devices reach a broad consumer market will depend on the amount of downloadable video content is made available through media, entertainment and other companies, McCurley said. Prices for the devices are expected to remain in the $400 to $600 range through 2008.