In 2007, big screen, big capacity and multifunctional video MP3 players were still the MP3 market segment of greatest attention in China. User groups further segmented. Market competition also gradually shifted from solely price wars to competition based on brand strength.
In 2007, 49.8% of China's pure audio MP3 player market was concentrated in the hands of the top 5 brands, namely Samsung, Apple, OPPO, Sony and UNIbit. Of these 5 brands, foreign brands accounted for 36.3%. These figures fully show that in the pure audio MP3 field, foreign brands have advantages.
In the face of a declining pure audio MP3 market and increasingly thin product profits, differentiation is the key to MP3 brands' survival. In essence, the process of differentiation is a process of innovation. Its key lies in the ability to look for blank spots in the market, tapping potential personalized demand, innovating product functions and added service values by innovating brand values and providing users with new consumption experiences. This will allow enterprises to expand their differentiation through continuous innovations and establish greater competitive advantages. As the origin of marketing, product differentiation directly affects the survival of brands.
Big screen video MP3 is the mainstream; HD becomes the development direction
Video MP3 players make up the main part of MP3 player sales. As technology continues to advance, video MP3 players have seen their screen size grow from 1.0 inch at the beginning to 1.8 inches and then topping 3 inches. As screen size continues to hit new records, the mainstream products in the market have also changed. CCID Consulting's monitoring data shows that 2.0-2.4 inch video MP3 products have gradually gained a mainstream position, accounting for 60.2% of the overall sales volume.
Major MP3 vendors have never given up making screen improvements. This is not only reflected in screen size upgrading. In terms of selection of screen texture materials, they have also more tailored to consumers' desire for a high-quality digital life. Big screen and HD are the development directions in the whole video MP3 market. With the overall drop in MP3 prices, low-end models priced under 500 Yuan gradually become the mainstream in the market. Meanwhile, low-price models also have a growing capacity. Middle- and high-end models priced over 800 Yuan are only limited to a few high-end products from domestic and international brands.
Video players now supporting Rm/Rmvb format
Video format conversion has long been a baffling problem for MP3 vendors and consumers. Due to different video compression standards and coding methods, solution developers usually only provide several common coding files for direct playing, while other formats must be converted into those supported by the video conversion software. However, video file conversion, falling picture quality, complicated operation processes and a long conversion time have deterred many consumers. In addition, lack of sufficient video resources has also become an important factor that restricts its development.
Today, there are very rich online video resources. Rm and Rmvb formats introduced by Real Company account for almost 80% of all online video formats, with huge market and user groups. Promoting people's ready use of these free resources has long been a goal pursued by player vendors. In such a situation, video players supporting Rm/Rmvb format have come into being. The year 2007 was a year of big growth for them. It is believed that the era of Real player has arrived. In 2008, MP3 products that support full Rm/Rmvb specifications will become a new center of competition in the MP3 market.
In the next 5 years, China's MP3 player market will grow steadily, with a drop in annual growth rate
