Sony's Walkman overtakes Apple's Ipod in Japan ...

SONY'S WALKMAN is back and it is giving Jobs' Mob a good kicking in the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Walkman, which was the icon of the 1980s, has been doing the unthinkable and usurped the Apple icon amongst the technology savvy Japanese.

To be fair it is not the cassette version of the Walkman, although that would be incredibly funny to see in the shops again beating the Ipod, but another MP3 player.

The Japanese company's share of portable music players sold climbed to 43 per cent in the week ended August 30, nosing past Apple's 42.1 per cent. Apple has held the top slot in personal music players since January 2005 in Japan.

Apple has rushed to point out that its range of exploding Iphones has cannibalised its Ipod sales. Iphones were not included in the BCN figures because it is a phone and not an MP3 player.

However there are other reasons why Sony is back. First, it has gained market share after introducing inexpensive models including the W series of cordless players that sell for under $108.

Sony also has better sound quality than Apple and it does not have the same crazy Itunes requirement.

Analysts say that it is too early to tell if the Ipod is going to suffer in the same way in Europe or the US.

Both outfits are seeing interest in MP3 players fall. Sales of portable music players in Japan fell by 13.5 per cent in August. This is the fifth straight month of decline, according to BCN.

The hope is that new models from Apple and Sony will lift sales again. Apple will be releasing its new wave of Ipods next week.

On July 30, Sony increased its sales forecast for digital music players to 6.7 million units for the year ending March 2010 from its May estimate of 6.3 million. It flogged 7 million last year.

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