"The market for digital audio players is expected to nearly quadruple over the next four years, reaching 104 million units by 2009, according to research firm In-Stat. Over 27.8 million players were shipped last year alone."
Interesting, but is this really news to anyone here? Obviously portable audio is a white hot market to be in right now, and will continue to be so over the next few years. Beyond that, I expect sales to taper off as digital audio playback becomes more widely accessible in other form factors like cell phones. Once that happens, iPod and other similar devices will become just another commodity with lower sales volume and shrinking margins.