We all love our shiny smartphones, but the latest stats on MP3 players prove that the sleek handset in your pocket is a cold-eyed killer.
Yep, according to Mintel's research sales of the humble MP3 player - and let's face it that means mainly Apple iPods - have dropped by a massive 22 per cent year on year.
And that's not all, with Mintel insisting that sales will halve again by 2017, making it a business worth just £25 million in the UK, which to the likes of Apple is pretty much the equivalent of the coins it has rattling together down the back of its sofa.
Natural selection
That, according to both experts and anyone with a modicum of common sense, is due to the rise and rise of the smartphone, all of which come with MP3 player functionality and make having an iPod a bit unnecessary.
But before you start feeling all sympathetic and wistful for the good old days, you should remember that the MP3 player pretty much assassinated both the Walkman and the mini-disc player in its climb to the top of our music buddy charts.
GIve it until 2017 and we'll see if Mintel are right, or if brain chips have made our phones obsolete by then anyway.
Via Telegraph
