A portable media player (PMP) is an electronic device that allows the owner to store, organize and play audio files as well as to view images and videos. The data is usually stored on a hard drive or a flash memory, enabling the storage of all kinds of files as on a USB flash drive. The PMP can be connected to a computer with a USB or FireWire connector, or via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi link.
The worldwide leader on this industry is clearly Apple with the iPod (around 70% of market share in US). SanDisk is the direct challenger, even though it is far from catching up with Apple with around 17% of market share in US. Then come Creative, Microsoft and Samsung which together own around 10% of the US market. Finally we find a half-dozen of outsiders, as iRiver, Philips, Neonumeric, Archos, Sony, Meizu and Cowon, sharing the remaining 3% of the US market.
It is difficult to have precise global figures but the US' trend is representative of the global market; except in China where Apple is not the leader but second after Samsung.
According to the Standard Industrial Classification, the PMPs belong to the household audio and video equipment industry (SIC 3651).
[...] Location of industry The creators of the DAPs were concentrated in Korea. Apple and Archos, which are at the base of the PMPs creation, are American and French respectively. Today, there still exist three regional clusters in the PMPs market: the Asian group (with Cowon, Creative, iRiver, Meizu, Samsung and Sony), the American group (with Apple, Microsoft and SanDisk) and the European group (with Archos and Neonumeric from France and Philips from the Netherlands). As there are not a lot of competitors in this industry, it is not necessary for the companies to be close to the customers as the demand exceeds than the offer. [...]
[...] Lastly, the actual economic crisis will also limit the growth of the industry because when the buying power of household decreases, the consumption of high technology products decreases as well. So this crisis is likely to affect the PMP industry. References Industry Overview http://www.ehso.com/siccodes.php, retrieved on 2008-10-26 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_player, retrieved on 2008-10-26 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_media_player, retrieved on 2008-10-26 http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-5622055-1.html, retrieved on 2008-10-26 http://www.numerama.com/magazine/4395-100-millions-d-iPod-vendus-737-de- parts-de-marche-aux-US.html, retrieved on 2008-10-26 http://technaute.cyberpresse.ca/nouvelles/produits- electroniques/200806/20/01-18916-baladeurs-mp3-sandisk-a-de-grandes- ambitions-en-europe.php, retrieved on 2008-10-26 http://www.answers.com/topic/household-audio-and-video-equipment, retrieved on 2008-11-02 http://www.answers.com/portable%20media%20player, retrieved on 2008-11-02 http://www.answers.com/topic/digital-audio-player, retrieved on 2008-11-02 Players in the Industry and Other Industry Characteristics: R&D http://www.apple.com/fr/pr/20081021q4results.html, retrieved on 2008-11-02 http://investor.sandisk.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=86495&p=irol-irhomemain, retrieved 2008-11-02 http://www.creative.com/corporate/investor/reports.asp, retrieved on 2008- 11-02 http://www.microsoft.com/msft/reports/ar08/10k_fr_not_18.html, retrieved on 2008-11-02 http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/companyprofile/annualreport/CompanyPr ofile_ElectronicsAnnual2007.html, retrieved on 2008-11-02 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc., retrieved on 2008-11-03 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandisk, retrieved on 2008-11-03 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Technology, retrieved on 2008-11-03 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft, retrieved on 2008-11-03 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Electronics, retrieved [...]
[...] Players in the Portable Media Player Industry[2] Apple SanDisk Creative Microsoft Samsung USA USA Singapore USA Korea Main consumer flash computer software electroni business electronic memory multimedi products cs s and card a for software products products computing products devices Ownership Public Public Public Public Public Stock NASDAQ NASDAQ SGX NASDAQ KRX market (America (America (Singapor (America (Korea Stock Stock e Stock Exchange) Exchange) Exchange Exchange) Exchange) & London ) Stock price in millio n $ result assets volume value millio revenue n $ This table shows that there is no minimum efficient size in this industry because the companies have workforces ranging from 3,000 to 138,000 persons and their total assets vary from $77 million to $72 billion. [...]
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