Why Mobile Phones Will Kill The iPod

At the moment the Apple ipod is synonymous with portable music players and listening. However, the next few years are likely to see the ipod being wiped out as mobile phone handsets replace standalone mp3 players, for the vast majority of users. This change is going to come about through a wide range of reasons.

Firstly, digital storage is becoming increasingly cheap, which allows mobile phone handsets to incorporate space for 1000s of mp3s at limited cost. Already, the latest mobile music phone's frequently include 10 GB of removable memory.

Second, a wide range of mobile handsets are now being specifically marketed as "music phones". For example, Sony-Ericsson has the Walkman series, Nokia has the N Series.

In terms of sheer volume, mobile phone handsets sell several orders of magnitude more devices each year than standalone mp3 players. Since launch Apple has sold over 100m ipods (as of April 2007), however, each year, nearly 1 billion mobile phone handsets are sold. In terms of scale, Apple just can't compete.

For users, carrying more than one device is always going to be less convenient than an "all-in-one" solution. When mobile mp3 players become "good enough" it is likely that more and more people will forgo a separate mp3 player unless they demand very high end or specific functionality.

The ability of mobile phone handsets to take on functions from a range of other technologies can be seen in the example of time-display. A common site these days when people ask for the time is someone reaching into their pocket for their mobile phone. The built-in clock has effectively removed the need to buy or carry a separate watch.

Finally, the main reason why mobile phones will beat the ipod is that the ipod itself is becoming a phone. With the launch of the iphone and the itouch Apple has announced its intention to integrate some form of telephony/ internet capability into its products. Ultimately, the standalone mp3 player may become only a niche part of its overall range of converged mp3 player/ mobile phone devices.

So, for all these reasons, mobile phones are going to beat the ipod.

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