A major new trend that is about to intensify is the explosive growth of hand-held music players, such as industry leader Apple's iPod. There is about to be another convergence, where cell phone makers come out with music capable (in fact, mp3 capable) phones. First off the block is expected to be Sony Ericsson, owner of the Walkman, who will be producing a new cell phone in the fall capable of playing music. Of course, this will open the door for music to be played directly off of the internet. Apple is not expected to take this lying down, since they have a major winner with their iPod, so they are expected to move into the cell phone business in order to compete. Their plans are a little hazy, but their executives have given some tantalizing hints. In the past couple of years, the availability of MP3 music on the internet, through such vendors as Apple's iTunes has solidified the status of that format for music off the internet. The success of the iPod has made clear the strength of that market segment. Of course, cell phones are rampant and the prospect of combining them with music players will be attractive to many people. It'll open up a whole new market and a whole new use of the internet. InformationWeek Music Phones Analysis: Music Phones To Slice Into iPod Growth March 10, 2006