How pocket-sized music players reshaped listening before smartphones took over
Portable MP3 players turned digital music into something people could carry in their pockets, helping reshape how music was stored, shared and heard. The iPod’s 2001 launch brought the devices into the mainstream, but smartphones and music streaming soon displaced them.
The first commercial player, the MPMan F10, launched in 1998 with 32MB of storage, enough for about 12 songs; the Diamond Rio PMP300 followed later that year. By 2007, about 20 per cent of Americans owned a personal media player, and the iPod accounted for more than 70 per cent of sales. The market peaked at $21.6 billion in 2008, then fell to $613 million by 2012; Apple ended the iPod line in 2022.
- The iPod helped make portable digital music mainstream.
- Smartphones and streaming rapidly shrank the player market.
- Apple discontinued the iPod in 2022.
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Portable music players emerged in the late 1990s, allowing people to carry digital songs with them instead of relying on bulky CD players or tape recorders. These small devices could store hundreds of songs and fundamentally changed how people experienced and listened to music in their daily lives.
The first commercial player, the MPMan F10, launched in 1998 with storage for roughly a dozen songs, but Apple's 2001 iPod became the dominant device that brought the technology into the mainstream. By 2007, one in five Americans owned a personal media player, with the iPod controlling over 70 per cent of the market.
The market for these devices reached a peak value of $21.6 billion in 2008, but declined sharply as smartphones began to offer built-in music capabilities and streaming services. Apple discontinued the iPod in 2022, ending the era of dedicated portable music devices.
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Originally published by The Verge as “The rise, fall, and rise of portable MP3 players”.