The portable MP3 player went from a novelty to a standard to almost nothing in a matter of years. Now it is coming back, but only for people who care about sound quality and want nothing to do with smartphone notifications.
The story starts in 1998, when the MPMan F10 became the first commercial MP3 player. It was the size of a deck of cards and looked like an oversized pager. It barely registered anywhere. Then the Diamond Rio PMP300 arrived in September of that year, drawing more attention because the Recording Industry Association of America sued Diamond Multimedia to stop the spread of MP3s. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, and the Rio became the device that broke through in the West.
Both devices had just 32MB of storage, enough for about 12 songs.
The iPod Era
Apple changed everything in November 2001 with the iPod. By 2007, roughly 20 percent of Americans owned a personal media player. Apple’s share of the market hit over 70 percent. Bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails experimented with pay-what-you-want digital releases. Napster taught everyone the phrases “file sharing” and “peer-to-peer.” Apple’s ads with silhouettes and white earbuds were everywhere.
The market peaked at $21.6 billion in 2008. By 2012, it had collapsed to just $613 million, according to research firm Mintel.
The Comeback
The comeback is small and specific. High-end players from Sony and Astell & Kern now sell for thousands of dollars, with the Sony NW-A306 being the closest thing to a mainstream offering at $399.99. These devices come with:
- Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth
- Large touchscreens
- High-end audio converters
Many run Android and open up to streaming apps like Spotify and Qobuz.
But the embrace of apps has pushed some buyers back to the past. Vintage iPods still fetch hundreds of dollars on eBay. An entire cottage industry has cropped up around modding them — adding Bluetooth and USB-C, replacing dying hard drives and batteries, or just customizing the look.
The numbers are hard to pin down. Some research firms lump all media players together, audio or video, streaming or offline. Others track audio-only players and disagree entirely. Some say the market is a $180 million-plus industry on the rise. Others say it is only a $1.2 million market and shrinking.
Portable media players have become a very small niche.
The Decline
The iPod’s decline began in 2011, when iPhone sales eclipsed iPod sales for the first time. Apple retired the Classic model in 2014, cut the Nano and Shuffle in 2017, and did not fully discontinue the line until 2022. The portable media player market shrank fast as modern smartphones replaced flip phones and BlackBerrys, and music consumption moved from buying CDs or digital downloads to streaming.
The comeback is a small, specific niche for people who want better sound and fewer interruptions.
- The MPMan F10 launched in Asia in March 1998
- The Diamond Rio PMP300 arrived in September 1998
- The iPod launched in November 2001
- 20 percent of Americans owned a personal media player by 2007
- Apple’s share of the market reached over 70 percent
- The industry peaked at $21.6 billion in 2008
- It collapsed to $613 million by 2012
- The Sony NW-A306 costs $399.99
- Vintage iPods still fetch hundreds of dollars on eBay
The iPod was the clear center of this story from start to finish. It perfected the media player, dominated the market, and then faded away as smartphones took over. Now it is back as a curiosity for collectors and a starting point for people who want to build their own modern devices. The comeback is small, but it is real.
Source material: “The rise, fall, and rise of portable MP3 players,” The Verge.
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