Bloomberg reports that Apple’s iPod shipments “probably dropped in the third quarter from the second [from 5.31 million to 5.29 million units], the first decline in more than two years and a sign the surge in demand for the music players may be waning.”
U.S. music fans downloaded 158 million songs from services like Apple’s iTunes Music Store during the first half of the year, compared with 55 million in the year-ago period, according to a recent SoundScan report.
The Boston Herald says that iPod accessories and associated gear will “dominate at least 10 percent of exhibit space” and “nearly a quarter of all conferences” at Macworld Expo in Boston this week.
In further pessimistic news that iPod sales may have plateaued, BusinessWeek says that sales growth is expected to cool from 234% in 2005 to 18% in 2006.
“With every passing quarter, the company that set the music world on fire with the iPod is in greater need of an encore,” the publication says.
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