[IMS Research issues new report saying mobile phones are expected to impact the MP3 market much more than the digital camera market.]

Wellingborough, U.K. -- Mobile phones are much more capable of making an impact on the market for mobile music players than on that for digital cameras. This is the opinion formed by IMS Research during its most recent examination of the handset market. It found that whilst a market for dedicated MP3 players will remain, mobile phones are likely to steal a significant proportion of the market.

As the demand for MP3 players grows and music download sites continue to increase in popularity, mobile phone manufacturers and cellular service providers are predicted to increasingly target this market. Their chance of success is forecast to be high as long as music files are easily transferable/downloadable and the user interface/menu functionality simple to use.

Senior Analyst, John Devlin, said "With the primary functionality of an MP3 player being data storage it is more an issue of capacity than performance. Once this is addressed (and this can already be seen in a limited number of new devices, such as Sony Ericsson's 4GB W950i Walkman phone) there are few reasons for people to double up on the number of devices carried. When considering camera functionality there are additional criteria that have to be considered, such as the quality of the optics, the flash, auto-focus, etc. This in turn limits the ability of the phone to take on all of this functionality, particularly at mass market volumes and prices."

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