Flash digital music player sales to rise sharply in 2005

Global sales of flash memory-based digital audio players are expected to increase significantly this year, according to research cited by Creative Technology. Tommy Tsai, a product marketing manager at Creative, said research firm IDC is projecting that Creative and its rivals, including Samsung and Apple, will collectively sell 35 million portable flash players in 2005, compared with 25 million in 2004. Apple is the undisputed leader in sales of hard drive-based players, but is now looking to take a bite out of the flash market with its iPod shuffle. Samsung and Creative together hold 13 percent of the global flash player market.