Fewer first-time MP3 buyers expected in 2006
updated 05:35 pm EDT, Mon August 8, 2005
Digital player numbers
Digital audio player adoption will reach more than 65 million by 2010, but the will decrease, according to a new research report. The Yankee Group DecisionNote foreceast indicates that MP3 manufacturers will face a shrinking market of customers new to the digital music era, as the number of first-time buyers will decrease beginning next year. "By 2010 the U.S. install base for Digital Audio Players (DAP) will reach 65.6 million.... As the total installed based of digital audio players increases, Yankee forecasts the number of first-time owners will decrease. The trend will begin in 2006 and continue to gain speed. By the end of 2007, less than half of digital audio player sales will be to first timers. The precipitous decline in new user adoption will fall to below 5 percent by 2008." According to the Yankee Group's numbers, Apple's iPod represented three-quarters of all players shipped in 2004, which the company expects Apple to maintain--due in part to its marketing and iTunes initiatives.
