The Market for Mobile Devices

ZDNet continues to pump out the graphs from Parks Associates research of Internet users. One asks users if they intend to purchase a mobile device in the next 12 months.

"24% are shopping for a new mobile phone, 10% - for a new MP3 player, 9% - for portable DVD player, 8% - for a mobile phone with music playback. Only 4% are looking to buy a portable multimedia player within the next 12 months."

The other surveyed users who found a portable media player valuable on "the price elasticity of the portable media player market. At the price level above $500 only 11% of respondents would buy a device. 73% would buy a PMP if the price was below $200. The below-$200 price point is also where the industry revenue would maximize."

From a consumer adoption standpoint, one could argue that mobile media devices will have to hit the mass market price point of sub-$99 before really taking off. Portable DVD players are heading in that direction, and of course the iPod shuffle is a great example of a well-priced product that opened up a whole new market for Apple...