Samsung predicts MP3 player sales at 35-45 mln units in 2005

Samsung expects global shipments of MP3 players to reach 35 million to 45 million units in 2005. The company forecasts the shipments will rise to 55 million units in 2006 thanks to growth in demand for both flash memory and hard disk drive based products. Samsung expects its sales to jump to $700-$750 million in 2005, up from about $250 million in 2004. The company aims to sell more than 5 million MP3 players this year, up from 1.7 million units in 2004.