This year has seen Apple's iPod MP3 player and iTunes music download service sweep away all in its wake.

The iPod is the Sony Walkman of its day. It commands a huge 44 per cent of the MP3 market and is on track to sell 30 million units this year and 43 million next year. Only Creative comes close with a 16 per cent market share. 

Together with sales of rival MP3 devices, this represents a doubling of the market since 2004. 

Despite niggling problems with the iPod Nano screen, Apple topped off the year with the successful launch of a video download service, selling one million videos in 20 days. 

The other highlight was the arrival of the first iPod phone, Motorola's Razr. 
and the opening of a podcasting service on iTunes. 

Competitors banded together to fight the mighty Apple. Microsoft and MTV urged users to ditch iTunes, and Samsung teamed up with Microsoft, Napster and Yahoo in an effort to beat Apple. 

Meanwhile Sony turned up the heat by launching software that transfers audio and video to the PlayStation Portable using a USB cable. 

But Apple also had some legal problems. Creative launched a patent challenge and iPod Nano users sued over the poor quality of the product 

And finally, the year ended on a sour note with the news that the ear plug headphones could be a health risk.