Report: iTunes is most-used media player

iTunes is steadily becoming the most used desktop media player application. According to recent data from Nielsen//NetRatings, unique users of iTunes passed Apple’s QuickTime player in mid-2005, and at current growth rates iTunes should pass RealNetwork’s RealPlayer by mid-2006. While Microsoft’s Windows Media Player still has more unique users—80 million, compared to 30 million—iTunes is used over twice as long as either RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. The report says that RealPlayer, iTunes’ nearest rival, is used for 46.4 minutes per person on average, while iTunes is used for 111 minutes on average.