Do decent music phones mean the end for MP3 players?

You say yes - latest Pocket-lint.co.uk Poll results

25 June 2007 16:18 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

In the latest Pocket-lint.co.uk reader poll we asked you: "Does a decent music phone mean you don't need to carry a separate MP3 player?" 64% of you said yes and 35% no.

Until recently music on your mobile was an add-on, more of a novelty than a feature in its own right. Think back to the Motorola ROKR, much hyped as the then iPod phone, but that eventually only had iTunes compatibility and enough memory for 100 songs.

Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones have been making definite inroads. This month has seen the launch of the W960 with an 8GB capacity that will mean you will be able to carry 700 albums with you on your mobile. That's got to cover you at least for the daily commute.

The W960 also boasts some nice music-led software features that should earn this new gadget space in the successfully-converged-devices hall of fame.

It goes without saying that the iPhone is this year's other big music playing mobile. Hyping up its music features it has repeatedly been described by Apple as "the best iPod we’ve ever created".

The iPhone bumph calls the device a widescreen iPod. The most expensive model matches the W960's 8GB capacity and the iPhone will boast iTunes' "Cover Flow" which should work brilliantly on the touchscreen.

So are Sony and Apple foolish to put out products with rival capabilities to their stand-alone MP3 playing Walkman and iPod ranges?

According to analyst Gene Munster of investment bank Piper Jaffray, iPhone anticipation hasn’t affected demand for the iPod: "Our analysis of iPod unit data from NPD for the month of May leads us to a preliminary iPod approximation of between 9.5 million and 10 million units for the June 2007 quarter."

So this suggests no slow down in the demand for the iPod as of yet. Perhaps when the average consumer grasps the concept of having the equivalent of 700 CDs on their mobile, they, like the tech-savvy Pocket-lint.co.uk readership, will realise that for everyday usage a separate MP3 player is now just a waste of pocket-space.

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