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Despite, or perhaps because of, its stand-out design, plus a staggering 50-hour battery life, the Bean was unable to make an impression on the shuffle's market share, which by all accounts has risen in the six months since the Bean's release.

Sony has also has problems with the way its Connect software works with its players - not wholly surprising since until recently software and hardware were developed by different parts of the company. Like its other Walkman models, the successful phone aside, the Bean may have sold better had Sony made it compatible with a range of online music stores, through Microsoft's Plays For Sure scheme, rather than its own, but that is not Sony's style.

Sony said only that it replaces models 'from time to time' and would not say whether the Bean will be replaced.

Apple recently cut the price of its two iPod shuffle models and introduced a 1GB iPod nano, increasing the pressure on other products in a market where its dominance shows no sign of waning.