The market for MP3 players, one of the most popular items of the digital era, is heating up fast as the technology develops. Now the portable media devices can play any number of digital files, including photos and movies, and IT giants Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, Sony and Matsushita are releasing a host of new products to compete against Apple’s iPod, the absolute no. 1 which takes up more than half of the global market.
Samsung Electronics unveiled two new MP3 players -- K5 and T9 -- at the IFA 2006, the largest multimedia exhibition in Europe which opened Thursday in Berlin, Germany. They have cutting edge features such as a slide-type speaker and Bluetooth technology for wireless downloads from computers. “The two, together with our Z5 MP3 player released recently, were designed to overtake Apple’s iPod,” confesses Jun Dong-soo, the head of Samsung Electronics’ digital AV division. Japan’s Sony and Matsushita also displayed new products with features like super-slim design and wireless headsets.
The world’s largest software company Microsoft is to make forays into the market, too. After entering the game console market with its X-box, Microsoft will focus on the MP3 player market as its new source of growth. The company already named its new MP3 player, which is to be made by Japan’s Toshiba, “Zune.” It will debut at the end of this year.
In the MP3 music file download business, competition is growing apace. There Apple accounts for a whopping 80 percent of the market with its iTunes service, so record companies, broadcasters and online companies have vowed to attack its near-monopoly. The World's largest record company Universal Music has partnered with the venture business Spiral Frog to offer free music download services from the end of this year. That could well make a dent in Apple's share, since a music file costs 99 cents on iTunes. Spiral Frog CEO Robin Kent said the partnership will make their profits from online advertising, and fashion brands such as Levi's and Benetton are reportedly interested.
The U.S. online giant AOL, meanwhile, has expanded its music file services so users can download some 2.5 million music files for a membership fee. Cable music channel MTV introduced a service called Urge for music and music video downloads. Samsung Electronics is about to upgrade its own music website Samsung Media Studio to offer services in Europe starting from October. It will offer music files and popular movies and video clips produced by Internet users themselves. Merrill Lynch predicts the digital music market will grow 30 percent from last year to US$16 billion in the U.S. and 35 percent to $11.6 billion elsewhere.
