Report: Global MP3 Player Sales Will Double in 2004 to 20 Million

FROM DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE
London – Global sales of MP3 players are expected to double in 2004, to more than 20 million units, according to London-based market research firm Informa Media Group. Sales are also projected to grow at an average annual rate of almost 45% for the next six years, with sales of 194 million units predicted for 2010. “As legal downloading is in an early stage of development, incompatibility with some portable players is not an issue” said Informa senior research analyst Simon Dyson. “However, if recent forecasts for digital sales growth are accurate, incompatibility between some downloads and the most popular portable players could become an issue in the very near future.” Currently, tracks purchased from Napster and other Microsoft-powered services are not compatible with Apple’s iPod, and songs from Apple’s iTunes Store aren’t compatible with a number of portable devices.