During its second quarter conference call with press and analysts, Apple revealed that the iPod shuffle was the No. 1 selling flash-based MP3 player worldwide in February with 43 percent market share. The iPod shuffle is expected to be the top-selling flash player in the coming months, but NPD Techworld (which calculates the sales numbers) has not yet released reports for March.
Apple’s iTunes Music Store remains the clear leader in online music sales with a share of 70-75 percent, according to Nielsen Soundscan. The company said over 350 million songs have now been purchased and downloaded from iTunes.
In addition, Apple’s share of the worldwide hard drive-based MP3 player market stands at over 90 percent. With Apple’s quick takeover of the flash market, the company now accounts for more than 70 percent of all MP3 players sold.
Apple also said that Hewlett Packard’s share of the iPod market dropped last quarter to only 3 percent of iPod sales.