Portable MP3 players, the dominant way Americans carried music in the 2000s, have shrunk to a small niche market even as interest in the devices has risen again. The first commercial player, the MPMan F10, reached Asia in March 1998. The Diamond Rio PMP300 broke through in the West that September, and drew attention partly because the Recording Industry Association of America sued Diamond Multimedia to try to stop the spread of MP3s.
Both early players shipped with 32MB of storage, enough for roughly 12 songs. Creative later addressed that limit with the Nomad Jukebox, which carried a 6GB hard drive and a design modeled on portable CD players, but it weighed 14 ounces. Apple's iPod, introduced in November 2001, opened the golden age of portable media players. By 2007, about 20 percent of Americans owned a personal media player, and Apple accounted for more than 70 percent of media player sales despite efforts by Microsoft's Zune and Creative's Zen lines.
The spotlight faded as smartphones spread. By 2011, iPhone sales passed iPod sales for the first time. Apple retired the Classic in 2014 and cut the Nano and Shuffle in 2017, keeping only the iPod Touch until discontinuing the lineup in 2022. A market worth $21.6 billion in 2008, according to research firm Mintel, had collapsed to $613 million in 2012.
Dedicated players then became largely the territory of audiophiles. Sony and Astell & Kern have released high-end audio players that can sell for well over $3,000. Sony's NW-A306, at $399.99, is the only device from either company near a mainstream price, and these players add Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, touchscreens, high-end digital audio converters and often Android with streaming apps.
Buyers seeking offline listening have instead turned to used hardware. Vintage iPods fetch hundreds of dollars on eBay, and a cottage industry has formed around modifying them with Bluetooth, USB-C, new drives and batteries. Modders are also installing new drives in Zunes and selling them for hundreds of dollars. Google searches for "MP3 player" have nearly tripled since last year, and cheap players and iPod knockoffs have flooded AliExpress, Temu and Amazon.
Startups are testing the category. The AP30 Music Boy drew a successful crowdfunding campaign, and Sleevenote, from musician Tom Vek, syncs over Wi-Fi and supports Bluetooth headphones while skipping streaming, apps and games, organizing music by album art. Its bulky Day One edition has issues including disappointing battery life, is sold out, and has no announced date for the next batch.
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