Competitors scramble for hot features as PMP/MP3 player market loses steam

SCOTTSDALE, USA: As the worldwide PMP/MP3 market matures, with shipment growth of only 5 percent in 2009, competitors are scrambling to add features such as touchscreens and Wi-Fi connectivity to re-ignite demand reports In-Stat.

Just a few years ago, the PMP/MP3 player market was among the strongest growth segments in the portable consumer electronic (CE) industry. Today, the market is stalled due to a perfect storm of weak consumer demand, a poor economic environment, a stalled replacement market, and competition from the iPhone and other audio/video-capable smartphones.

“Among the lone bright spots in the PMP market is Wi-Fi enabled PMPs,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “Unit shipments of Wi-Fi-enabled PMPs will grow more than four-fold by 2013 from the 14 million units shipped in 2008.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

* Total worldwide shipments of PMP players will reach 225 million in 2009, with Asia Pacific representing the largest geographic market.
* The market is decidedly shifting to video-enabled devices. By 2013, only 15 percent of PMP players will be audio-only devices.
* Among the key PMP competitors are: Apple, Archos, Creative Technology, iRiver, ZVUE Corporation, Microsoft, SanDisk, Samsung, and Toshiba.
* The total semiconductor opportunity for PMP/MP3 player suppliers has peaked and will decline below $5 billion by 2013. NAND Flash and Video processors make up the majority of semiconductor revenue.
* Among the key PMP Semiconductor competitors are: Actions Semiconductor, NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, Toshiba Semiconductor, Freescale Semiconductor (SigmaTel).