iPod continues stronghold of MP3 player market

In his latest research report sent to clients, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster notes that the iPod is continuing to gain market share as evidenced by recent NPD Techworld data and Amazon.com rankings. Munster said that various versions of the iPod now hold all 10 spots on Amazon’s Top 10 Seller List for Portable MP3 Players, up from 8 last month. “We believe the increase is noteworthy given that the last time we recorded 10 iPods in the Top 10 occurred on Sept. 9, 2005, prior to the holiday shopping season,” he commented. Munster expects that by the end of 2006, more than 85 million iPods will have shipped since the device was introduced.