Nothing seems to delight the 21st century twenty-something so much as wandering around to their own individual sound track, piped through the headphones from the latest device on the market--and it's a fact that's borne out by the manner in which they've descended on the latest products in the personal audio market with unmatched avarice.

Always a winner with the gadget nuts, the personal audio market is currently an invigorated and exciting arena, as folk seize on the newest devices for blocking out the cacophony that threatens to turn modern living into a relentless, squawking grind.

With two emerging product areas--flash and hard disk--there's an air of enthusiasm surrounding the sector, and a slew of products that offer easy sell-up points and credible features, all geared towards milking the maximum amount of money from the lowing herds lumbering into your shops, offering up credit cards and clumps of cash for the shiniest noise-making boxes on display.

It's nearing harvest time for digital audio, as years of education and early adoption are paying off. Increasing numbers of people are getting to grips with gigabytes and going out and buying these products.

There's no question that the personal audio landscape is shifting, but Nadia Allen, product manager for personal audio at Panasonic, is on hand with maps.

"While MiniDisc has suffered a decline in sales over the past year, personal CD players have maintained a large proportion of the market, and interestingly Internet-based file sharing is fuelling this sector, with many people using a PC to burn MP3, AAC or WMA to CD. Consumers are using the Internet to sample music before buying the albums on CD from the high street.

"In addition, we are seeing a dramatic rise in solid state audio sales, fuelled by increased penetration of SD Memory Card based products and the explosion in PC downloads. This trend will see change as more consumers install home PCs and become increasingly aware of the versatility and ease of use experienced with today's digital technology.

"Products such as the Panasonic SV-MP20 have proved popular with a combination of an MP3 player facility plus an FM radio. Its ease of use and small size have made a winning combination, illustrating the growing popularity of the MP3 market.

CAPACITY

"Tape is now a niche market, but is still important for some consumers. Consumers like to have tape playback included with their MP3/CD radio cassette player, giving them the flexibility to play old favourites on tape and digital audio from the same device."

As for what people are looking for when they enter the market, Todd Selwyn, Philips's audio marketing manager, comments on the most important features.

"Storage capacity, design, price and brand are key factors when purchasing personal audio products. These factors vary in importance depending on specific consumer groups.

"Philips has developed its portable audio range to appeal to specific groups. Its Portable Infortainment range is aimed at the affluent and image-conscious youth sector and includes smart, compact and flexible products that are designed to take music anywhere. From wearable digital audio, jukeboxes and MP3 players, compact accessories help to make the most of life, wherever you may be.

"The Nike Philips range includes digital audio players that have been developed especially for exercise. Easy to wear and durable, they make listening to skip-free music while keeping fit easy--to make your workout enjoyable, motivating and uplifting."

Digital audio players are currently doing extremely well, though some may question exactly where the various sizes--ranging from a mere 128MB all the way up to a mighty 80GB--fit in relation to each other.

Neil McGuinness, PR audio specialist at Creative Labs, explains how people aren't just restricting themselves to one type of product, but rather indulging in all the different options available.

"In some cases, smaller players have a different target audience, especially as they're more affordable. But also, because they're flash and have no moving parts--people who are active need ultra portability. And they're great for the gym. They're still extremely popular. A lot of people these days, if they've got a 20GB player, also have a 256MB player either just to carry data around or to use at the gym."

The flash media players could be the technology of the future, according to David Andrews, product category manager for personal audio at Sony. He argues that once capacity increases, then the advantages of flash media technology will mean that this will become the true future technology in digital audio players.

"I think you'll see--potentially, in the second half of 2005, 2GB players. That will really close the gap. In the future, flash memory will start to take over from hard drives."

IGNORANCE

In order for that to happen, however the public are going to have to replace their ignorance with a savvy as to what the differences are between flash and hard disk players. Sony's Mr Andrews ponders whether they know one from the other just yet.

"I think at the moment people's perception is that they're exactly the same thing, just in different styles and sizes. It depends how effectively manufacturers get the point across about superior flash memory technology."

Thomson national audio accounts manager, Graham Bell, is confident that there is already a great deal of interest in the larger flash players.

"One gigabyte will be a strong sector, it allows lots of music storage at a low price, but still with navigation of albums offering quick music location."

Obviously one of the key factors in this area is the way the products look, with styling being way up on people's list of personal audio 'wants'. Creative's Mr McGuinness has been studying what it is your customers will be looking for when they come into the store.

"They're very much now consumer electronics devices so they can't look like chunky computer peripherals, like they used to. So clean lines, curves, is another trend, and colours are definitely popular at the moment."

Some retailers may have resisted this sector, feeling it was more of an IT thing. According to Mr McGuinness, that's entirely the wrong attitude.

"Certainly, since Christmas 2003 it's just exploded into consumer electronics land, and quite rightly so, because it's a music playing device and people shouldn't forget that."

Panasonic's Ms Allen considers what it is that people are looking for when they purchase a personal audio player.

"Each consumer has individual considerations when buying portable audio. Factors, such as lifestyle, sound quality, style and ease of use, feature high on the list alongside networking interfaces and compactness."

One of the emerging markets in this sector is that of the multimedia jukebox. Companies such as Archos and Thomson have developed products that don't just stop at playing back music, but branch out into video and even games. Could this be the future? Sony's Mr Andrews peers into his crystal ball.

"It's going to be interesting here, with the launch of PSP. It could be huge. At the moment. I'm hearing there's not going to be enough stock in the marketplace. It'll be interesting because it's a bigger device, and we're intrigued as to how the market's going to take to it. As it develops into a visual/music/gaming device, that's one device doing the job of three others."

Overall, the predictions from those in the industry are very positive. Panasonic's Ms Allen sums up the state of play. "Sales of digital audio players will continue to climb as more people discover the versatility of digital audio. In addition, we are likely to see further convergence of devices offering multiple benefits (for example, still images, movies, voice recording) and the ability to transfer data between devices, be it from DVD recorder to camcorder or phone. Personal audio is likely to become a part of the variety of 'experiences' we carry around with us as a result of convergence and the connectivity between highly compact mobile products and home entertainment technologies."

Ultimately, personal audio continues to deliver a number of exciting opportunities. People are already sold on the idea of music on the move and it's a market that repeatedly comes up with the goods on innovation; it's an area where people are willing to splash out on the most expensive products just so they can have the most expensive products.

With innovation and styling continuing apace the personal audio market is destined to remain on the move.

what's new

Morphy Richards has recently launched its first MP3 player, in a bid to take advantage of this growing market. The flash player is the first in a growing range of products from the manufacturer.