Port Washington, N.Y. — Sales of accessories for portable digital players grew 370 percent at the retail level, to $412 million, for the first nine months of 2005, The NPD Group said.
The market grew to about 26 percent of the size of the portable digital player market itself, NPD statistics show. Retail-level sales of portable digital players, mainly iPods, grew 163 percent during that time, to $1.6 billion.
During the fourth quarter, NPD forecasts, digital player accessory sales will exceed sales during the first three quarters.
Among accessories, speakers systems were the top sellers, accounting for 26.5 percent of all digital player accessory sales, or $109 million. Cases and bags were No. 2 with 18 percent of dollar volume, or $73.1 million. FM transmitters accounted for 16 percent, or $64.5 million. Car kits generated $29.1 million, or 7 percent of accessory sales. And FM modulators/ car chargers accounted for $28.8 million in sales, or 7 percent.
