The sale of MP3 players have dropped due to the rise in popularity of the smartphones that play digital music and videos, allow users to make telephone calls and connect to the internet, according to a research by Mintel.
According to the report the sales dropped to £381m in 2012, a 22% decline compared to 2011 and the sales is expected to fall to about half by 2017 and to £25m in the next five years.
Mintel technology analyst Samuel Gee was cited by telegraph.co.uk as saying that it is impossible to talk about the current PMP market without extensive reference to smartphones.
"The devices have directly contributed to the sharp decline in the value of PMP sales," Gee said.
"The convenience of a smartphone is greater than an MP3 player because it is always with someone."
"It also provides more choice of mobile music because someone can play back their own music – as they can on a MP3 player – but they can also access other music services like Last FM or Spotify. Therefore there is a greater choice of music available."
Apple launched iPod in 2001 with capacity of 1,000 songs, which increased to 4,000 songs by 2010. The company sold 5.3 million iPods third quarter of 2012, a 19% drop compared to the third quarter of 2011.
