iPod or Mobile Phone?

(Interesting forecast from a marketing trends publication this week)

Music maker

Which came first, the cell
phone or the iPod? Seem like a
dumb question? Well, in this age
of multifunction devices, the
answer appears to be making a
big difference to the future of both
technologies.

Europe’s Entertainment
Media Research, which surveyed
3,000 British consumers in its
2006 Digital Music Survey, found
that given the choice of a dualfunction
phone/music player
device, 46% would prefer to use
a phone that also played media
files. By comparison, 21% would
choose a dual-functionality
iPod/MP3 player.

Even current iPod owners preferred
the phone-based option—
40%, compared to 27% who
favored the iPod-based option. Still,
uptake of the technology is slow.

While cell phone companies have
not made a killing on dual functionality
as of yet, as more phone-toting
teens gain financial control of
their cell accounts, music downloads
will follow.