Earlier this month, we reported how ebook reader sales were set to sink in 2012 — and plummet in future years. We also know compact camera sales are declining.
Now there is also a gloomy outlook for portable audio players, with consumer retail research outfit Mintel (via Telegraph) seeing MP3 players shedding 22 percent in 2012 UK sales revenue.
The common thread — consumers are now replacing these dedicated single-function devices with multi-function smartphones or tablets at an accelerating rate.
What once was, itself, a mono-functional device for making calls has become a Swiss Army knife for communication, entertainment and more. In fact, as Telegraph Media Group executive editor Edward Roussel comments:
Mobile phones: The term is anachronistic. They are the "remote controls" of our lives. on.wsj.com/Vr2JfT via @WSJ—
(@edwardroussel) December 27, 2012
Mintel forecasts MP3 player sales halving again by 2017. But it also sees a “worst-case” scenario of their revenue diminishing to just £25 million — that is £356 million less than Mintel’s 2012 sales estimate.
If it’s any consolation, this pace of decline — at least, for now — is less than that predicted by IHS iSuppli for ereaders.
Ofcom’s recent annual International Communications Market Research report shows how smartphones are the handheld devices most commonly used to access the internet…
This year, we saw the emergence of a mobile-first digital ecosystem, with many services beginning to report greater consumption on mobile than desktop devices. But Ofcom’s data shows computers are still the device on which people most frequently use the internet…
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