|
PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, April 12, 2001 – According to
leading marketing information provider NPD INTELECT®
Market Tracking, the average selling price of MP3 players in
February 2001 was 18% higher than pre-holiday pricing. This is true
across all channels, including traditional retail and e-commerce
outlets.
MP3 Players’ Average Selling Price
November ‘00 – February ’01
|
Month/Year |
Nov. ‘00 |
Dec. ‘00 |
Jan. ‘01 |
Feb. ‘01 |
% Change
Nov.– Feb. |
|
ASP |
$196 |
$206 |
$229 |
$231 |
+18% |
Source: NPD INTELECT® Market Tracking
According to NPD INTELECT, the steep increase over the short four-month
period is due to added memory included in newer MP3 players. MP3
devices with higher-capacity removable memory and devices with hard
drives are dominating category sales. By contrast, MP3 Players with
limited-capacity, imbedded memory have lost share since last
November. Products including Sony’s Memory Stick Walkman, Iomega’s
Hip Zip and Creative Labs’ Nomad Jukebox offer opportunity for more
music downloads. Consumer desire to grab more music from the Web is
driving sales of higher priced MP3 Players.
MP3 Players Containing Different Types of Memory
Unit Share: November ‘00 – February ’01
|
Memory Types |
Nov.’00 |
Dec. ‘00 |
Jan. ‘01 |
Feb. ‘01 |
|
Hard Drive |
4.7% |
4.5% |
9.6% |
8.2% |
|
Imbedded Memory |
17% |
4.2% |
5.4% |
4.1% |
|
Removable Memory |
12.3% |
15.7% |
16.8% |
15.1% |
|
Removable Memory &
Expansion Slot |
65.9% |
75.5% |
68.2% |
72.7% |
Source: NPD INTELECT® Market Tracking
"In spite of the sales, there has to be a concern in the MP3
industry, since the courts have effectively shut-off the flow of
free-music downloads. Still, many companies are betting on the MP3
format by including it throughout their product lines. For example,
Samsung has a boombox that contains both a removable MP3 device and
a CD player. Many manufacturers have personal CD players and car CD
players that read MP3 files ‘burned’ onto CDs," commented Jim
Hirschberg, director of consumer electronics for NPD INTELECT.
NPD INTELECT also revealed that the category’s market share
leaders on the Internet are different from those most prominent in
retail channels. In February, Creative Labs was the market leader on
the Web; Rio led in traditional channels. This is significant
because MP3 devices have become the top-selling consumer electronics
category sold on the Web. On average, thirty-five percent of all MP3
players are sold through this channel.
|
