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Portable Media Player Market Potential

In order for the Portable Media Player (PMP) market to reach beyond early adopters, several issues must be addressed, reports In-Stat. These factors include high price points, digital rights management (DRM) issues, and perhaps most importantly, the increased availability of video content from download video service providers.

"The good news for PMP vendors is that in the past six months, there has been increased activity among manufacturers and content providers to promote the availability of video content for PMPs," says Stephanie Guza, In-Stat analyst. "In addition, new product features such as wireless capability and larger screens will be available on next year�s crop of PMPs; and In-Stat believes that the increased capabilities, coupled with the promise of more video content, are factors that could kick-start the market."

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

- Early adopters will remain the primary market for PMPs this year
- The mass market is not yet willing to pay the hefty price tag for PMPs, which is approximately $400 to $500.
- PMPs are competing with other converged devices such as handheld gaming devices, smarter PDAs, and portable DVD players
- By 2009, In-Stat forecasts that worldwide PMP shipments will reach 7.5 million units.

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